Research on video-based Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies is increasing due to their potential of providing abundant sensory information about a person in need of support. Acceptance of these visual sensors is limited among potential users as perceptions of barriers persist, most importantly privacy concerns. The current study aimed to investigate potential users’ behavioural intention to use video-based AAL and their evaluations of relevant benefits and barriers during activities of daily living in their own homes. Special focus was on exploring the influences of individual differences (demographics and psychometrics) on evaluation patterns. In total, evaluations of 122 participants (age range: 17-81 years) were assessed through an online survey. The results are in line with previous findings on perceived benefits and barriers and their relevance to the acceptance of AAL technology. Beyond that, the results revealed significant relationships and impacts of individual differ ences, i.e., privacy perception, self-consciousness, and body consciousness, on the perceived barriers and indirectly also on the acceptance of video-based AAL technology. Further, three clusters of potential users were identified, differing significantly in their evaluation of video-based AAL technology as well as in their individual characteristics, i.e., privacy perception and self-consciousness. The findings of this study are useful to derive recommendations for user-tailored development and communication of video-based AAL technology.

Addressing demographic change, assistive technologies are developed to support people in need of care. So far, little is known about the impact of context-related individual perceptions on the adoption of such technologies. The present study investigates the extent of relationships between (a) aging-, care-, and health-related perceptions and (b) the perception and acceptance of using assistive technologies. In an online survey (N = 1123), the participants assessed individual perceptions of aging, care, health, perceived benefits, barriers, and acceptance of an assistive system. Using structural equation modeling the relationships between individual attitudes and acceptance were investigated. Results revealed that perceptions of care were related to acceptance, perceived barriers, and benefits. Positive perceptions of aging were related to perceived benefits and care. Moreover, perceived vitality correlated with perceptions of aging and perceived benefits. The study provided insights into individual perceptions of aging, care, and health as well as their relationships with assistive technology’s acceptance.

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies have a high potential to combat healthcare challenges while supporting older adults to live independently at their own home. Despite the general positive uptake of such technology, perceptions of barriers of acceptance persist, a major one regards privacy. With an explorative qualitative approach, the current study aimed at investigating participantsc̀ognitive representations of a scenario in which AAL is installed in the own home as a support at an older age. Special focus was on eliciting participantsìmplications for privacy in this scenario and to understand the individual requirements of using AAL technology at home. Opinions of 12 participants (age range: 23-81 years) from Germany and Switzerland were assessed through semi-structured interviews. The paper presents descriptive results and emerging themes of the mapping approach. The results show the usefulness of the method to understand thought processes of potential users regarding pri vacy preferences and technology usage. Findings might be useful to inform technical designers as well as lawmakers to consider these usage requirements during technology or law development.

An aging society characterized by rising numbers of people in need of assistance and care poses tremendous challenges for care services, hospitals, families, and the whole society. Using assisting technologies represents a potential support and relief for aged individuals, people in need of care, and their caregivers. Despite their advantages, existing concerns and barriers regarding these technologies (e.g., data security, privacy) impede the user’s acceptance. Beyond that, acceptance and the perception of technology-related benefits and barriers depend on the diversity of the future users: e.g., their cultural background as well as attitudes toward aging and care. Applying an online questionnaire, this article aims at an exemplary comparison of Turkish and German participants’ perceptions and acceptance of using lifelogging cameras as technical application. This study investigates how participants of the two countries handle and evaluate the topics aging and care, and to what extent these attitudes are connected with the perception and acceptance of assisting technologies. Findings revealed significant differences between Turkish and German participants’ attitudes, their perceptions of benefits and barriers as well as acceptance of lifelogging cameras. The results indicated that assisting technologies have to be tailored specifically to the respective users.

Increasing numbers of older individuals in the societies pose great challenges for countries affected by the demographic change. The rapid development in the technological sector, on the other hand, enables various applications to make everyday life easier for older and disabled people and to maintain their autonomy for longer. This study examines the acceptance and privacy perceptions of a video-based technology for lifelogging in home environments among German and Turkish users, using a multi-method empirical research approach. Results expose an overall differing acceptance of using lifelogging cameras between German and Turkish participants and suggest that the consideration of the varying culture-bound demands is necessary. The findings of this study support the understanding of requirements for a successful implementation of a video-based assistive technology in private environments to optimally address the needs of the future users, drawing attention to the important cultural influences that affect its acceptance.

Lifelogging technologies have the potential to facilitate and enrich the everyday life of younger as well as older people. On the one hand, tracking and logging of data about activities and behavior support an active lifestyle. On the other hand, tracking medical data and movements support increasing safety by detecting, e.g., emer-gencies or falls. From a technical perspective, a variety of technologies enable lifelogging and are already available on the market. Instead, there is very little knowledge about the perception and acceptance of lifelog-ging technologies from users’ socio-ethical perspective. Hence, this paper presents research results from four online survey studies (n = 1107) aiming at covering a broad range of lifelogging applications and reaching di-verse target groups. Being based on insights gathered from the quantitative data collection, this paper derives guidelines for integrating ethical and social perspectives in lifelogging technology development and emphasiz-es gaps within the research landscape regarding its perception and acceptance.

Shifts in demographic developments have led to changed needs and requirements in healthcare.Rising life expectancy and improved medical healthcare enable a more independent and healthier lifestyle of (older) persons, but also changes expectations and perceptions of aging, and health-supporting technologies.Knowledge about attitudes towards aging, medical assistive technologies, and impacting user factors (especially age and health status) is limited with regard to a broad sample of participants.In the present study (N=585), we therefore examined in an online-survey current attitudes towards aging and quality of life in older age, as well as perceptions and acceptance of health-supporting technologies, taking age and health status as user factors into account.Results revealed significant effects of age and health condition on the perception of life quality in older age.In addition, positive perceptions of aging, technology acceptance, as well as benefits and barriers were significantly influenced by the respondents' age.In contrast, health status significantly affected the negative perceptions of aging.Under impacts of age and health condition as user factors, results of the study allow a deeper understanding of changing patterns of perceived aging and prevailing opinions regarding acceptance of medical technology.

Ubiquitous computing strives to reach the calm computing state where sensors and actuators disappear from the foreground of our surroundings into the fabric of everyday objects. Despite the great progress in embedded technology, artificial interfaces, such as remote controls and touch screens, remain the dominant media for interacting with smart everyday objects. Motivated by recent advancements in smart textile technologies, we investigate the usability and acceptance of fabric-based controllers in the smart home environment. In this article we describe the development and evaluation of three textile interfaces for controlling a motorized recliner armchair in a living room setting. The core of this contribution is the empirical study with twenty participants that contrasted the user experience of three textile-based interaction techniques to a standard remote control. Despite the slightly lower reliability of the textile interfaces, their overall acceptance was higher. The study shows that the hedonic quality and attractiveness of textile interfaces have higher impact on user acceptance compared to pragmatic qualities, such as efficiency, fluidity of interaction, and reliability. Attractiveness profits from the direct and nearly invisible integration of the interaction device into textile objects such as furniture.