Virtual Home Research Articles

‘Mum Added You’ Managing Transnational Aged Care Arrangements Through Family WhatsApp Groups

ABSTRACTIncreasing global migration and (im)mobilities are affecting the provision of aged care in transnational families. Such families rely on digital communication technologies like WhatsApp to manage and maintain aged care obligations across borders. This study investigates the role of WhatsApp family groups in enabling transnational families to manage transnational aged care from a distance. I draw on interviews with three transnational family constellations with members in the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. The study finds that WhatsApp family groups create a virtual home where Zimbabwean transnational families can plan, organise and deliver care to their ageing parents. However, managing transnational aged care through WhatsApp family groups can also pose problems, especially for migrants pressured to remit. Furthermore, gendered assumptions of care and asymmetrical power relationships entrenched in families are reinforced. The study contributes to the literature on transnational care and new technologies, providing a Zimbabwean perspective on co‐presence and mediated aged care practices.

Protocol for an intervention for new parents experiencing moderate psychosocial adversity: pilot feasibility randomised trial

ABSTRACT Background Parents exposed to psychosocial adversities often experience challenges which, combined with the needs of a new-born infant, can be difficult to manage and increase the risk of poor outcomes for both parents and infants. Psychosocial adversity can disrupt the development of parental-foetal attachment to the baby during pregnancy, which can have a negative effect on parental care and quality of interaction during the postnatal period. This intervention is based on the proposition that enhanced parental capacity to mentalise and emotionally connect to unborn children during pregnancy, and better understanding about how to manage distressing infant behaviour (i.e., persistent crying and sleep problems) will: (i) promote the development of secure parent-infant attachment; (ii) improve antenatal bonding and postnatal parenting; and, (ii) reduce parental distress. Method This protocol is for a pilot randomised control trial evaluating a new intervention, which makes use of innovative technologies to support parents experiencing moderate psychosocial adversity (Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12622000287730). The New Technology for New Parents (NTNP) intervention provides support using antenatal ultrasound scans and ‘virtual home visits’ during the perinatal period. Quantitative outcomes include mentalising capacity, parental-foetal/infant attachment, and parental competence. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, no study has evaluated the combined effectiveness of two novel technologies (3D/4D ultrasound scans and virtual home visits) to support parents across the antenatal and postnatal periods. This protocol, which includes the rationale for this innovative intervention, addresses a gap in services for parents experiencing moderate psychosocial adversity.

Virtual home staging and relighting from a single panorama under natural illumination

Virtual staging technique can digitally showcase a variety of real-world scenes. However, relighting indoor scenes from a single image is challenging due to unknown scene geometry, material properties, and outdoor spatially-varying lighting. In this study, we use the High Dynamic Range (HDR) technique to capture an indoor panorama and its paired outdoor hemispherical photograph, and we develop a novel inverse rendering approach for scene relighting and editing. Our method consists of four key components: (1) panoramic furniture detection and removal, (2) automatic floor layout design, (3) global rendering with scene geometry, new furniture objects, and the real-time outdoor photograph, and (4) virtual staging with new camera position, outdoor illumination, scene texture, and electrical light. The results demonstrate that a single indoor panorama can be used to generate high-quality virtual scenes under new environmental conditions. Additionally, we contribute a new calibrated HDR (Cali-HDR) dataset that consists of 137 paired indoor and outdoor photographs. The animation for virtual rendered scenes is available here.

Asthma Care from Home: Study protocol for an effectiveness-implementation evaluation of a virtually enabled asthma care initiative in children in rural NSW.

Asthma is the leading source of unscheduled hospitalisation in Australian children, with a high burden placed upon children, their parents/families, and the healthcare system. In Australia, there are widening disparities in paediatric asthma care including inequitable access to comprehensive ongoing and planned asthma care for children. The Asthma Care from Home Project is a comprehensive virtually enabled asthma model of care that aims to a. supports families, communities and healthcare providers, b. flexible and locally acceptable, and c. allow for adoption of innovations such as digital technologies so that asthma care can be provided "from home", reduce potentially preventable asthma hospitalisation, and ensure satisfaction at a patient, family, and healthcare provider level. The model of care includes standardisation of discharge care through provision of an asthma discharge resource pack containing individual asthma action plan, follow-up letters for the child's general practitioner (GP) and school/child care, and access to online asthma educational sessions and resource; post-discharge care coordination through text message reminders for families for regular GP review, email correspondence with their child's GP and school/childcare; and virtual home visits to discuss home environmental triggers, provide personalised asthma education and respond to parental concerns relating to their child's asthma. This study is comprised of three components: 1) a quasi-experimental pre/post impact evaluation assessing the impact of the model on healthcare utilisation and asthma control measures; 2) a mixed-methods implementation evaluation to understand how and why our intervention was effective or ineffective in producing systems change; 3) an economic evaluation to assess the cost-effectiveness of the proposed model of care from a family and health services perspective. This study aims to improve access to asthma care for children in rural and remote areas. Implementation evaluation and economic evaluation will provide insights into the sustainability and scalability of the asthma model of care.

A Virtual Home Preparedness Intervention Centered on Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs

ObjectiveChildren and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) require additional considerations for staying safe in emergencies. Our team of clinicians and preparedness professionals developed and tested a virtual home preparedness intervention (VHPI) in families with CYSHCN receiving care in a statewide medical home network. MethodsThe VHPI comprised 1) a pre/post interview covering fire safety, emergency evacuation, sheltering in place, and informing emergency responders of the child/youth’s care needs; 2) a resource packet containing emergency planning templates and information on local supports; and 3) individualized referrals coordinated through the medical home/community partners. Eligible CYSHCN had medical technology reliance, physical/mobility needs, communication/intellectual challenges, and/or vision/hearing loss. Preparedness was measured as pre/post affirmed rates of 19 items from the interview and as mean composite scores of these items; associations were evaluated using generalized estimating equations–based regression for repeated measures. ResultsThe pre- and post-VHPI interviews were completed by 170 and 148 participants, respectively. Significant individual-item gains included having a current Emergency Information Form for the child/youth (31% [pre] to 47% [post] affirmed) and assembling an evacuation kit (50% to 68%). The mean preparedness score was 13.33/19 items affirmed at baseline and increased to 14.96 post-VHPI (P < .01). In the adjusted regression model, the post-intervention preparedness score remained significantly higher than pre-VHPI, with mean increases of 1.22 preparedness steps affirmed for homeowners and 1.85 for renters. ConclusionsPreparedness scores improved post-VHPI in families with CYSHCN. Future work should address incorporating the VHPI into care visits in the medical home.

Reducing e-waste in Europe: Examining the impact of environmental and financial literacy on the premature replacement of appliances across owner-occupier and rental residential properties using the EVIDENT serious game

AimAs premature replacement of residential appliances drives rising e-waste levels in Europe, analysis of the factors impacting consumer decision-making when faced with opportunities to extend (repair) or reduce appliance lifespans (premature replacement) is needed. This manuscript seeks to explore the impact of environmental and financial literacy on consumer willingness to seek repair of home appliances (over replacement) across owner-occupier and rental properties. The impact of financial salience within the informational frames of these decisions is also explored. MethodAn online discrete choice experiment was conducted using the EVIDENT serious game, a life-simulation game in which players manage a virtual home and face energy decisions. Participants (n = 1056) completed a series of 3 choice experiments exploring repair/replace decision-making and willingness to pay for repair. Prior to the game, measures of environmental literacy, financial literacy, household type, and sociodemographic factors were obtained using a pre-game survey. For rental properties, a further stated preference experiment was conducted to determine the impact of financial incentives on willingness to invest in more efficient appliances for both landlords and tenants. ResultsWhile an overall willingness to seek repair for broken home appliances was found, most participants selected to prematurely replace their broken appliance with a more efficient alternative. Participants aged over 51 were significantly less likely to choose a repair (p < .001), while those in non-full-time employment more likely to select a repair (p < .001). Limited impact of environmental and financial literacy on repair/replace decision-making was found, though financial knowledge, environmental knowledge, and environmental skills were associated with willingness to pay for repair. Willingness towards repair in rental properties (landlords and tenants) was found with tenants willing to pay 34–71.3 % more than homeowners for repair and landlords willing to pay 93.3–108.8 % more depending on the appliance. Mixed impacts of financial incentives in rental properties to surmount impacts of split incentives were found. While 86.6 % of landlords were willing to accept a small fee from tenants towards a more efficient appliances, 65.2 % of tenants were unwilling to pay such a fee. ConclusionResults cast light on the specific impacts of individual financial and environmental literacy, demographic factors, and residence type on early replacement decisions, providing valuable direction for future policy actions.

3GPP Edge–Fog federation: Transparent 3rd-party authentication and application mobility

3GPP edge and fog computing paradigms provide computational services to users at low latency. These paradigms alone are not enough to fulfill the users’ requirements completely. Therefore, a federation among these computing paradigms is necessary. To realize such federation, there is a need of an authentication mechanism where subscribers of a fog, can access 3GPP edge’s services, or vice versa, without buying new subscription, and an application mobility mechanism for continuous service during handover from 3GPP edge to fog, or vice versa, without re-authentication. In this work,33This work is an extension of [1] with inclusion of two new scenarios, extended testbed, and more results. we propose: (1) a proxy-based state transfer and third-party authentication (PS3A), that uses a transparent proxy to transfer the authentication and application state information between 3GPP edge and fog, and (2) a token-based state transfer and proxy-based third-party authentication (TSP3A), that uses the proxy to transfer the authentication information and tokens to transfer application state information between 3GPP edge and fog. The proxy plays different roles, via virtual counterparts of entities involved in these protocols, to provide transparency. When the 3GPP edge, using EPS-AKA, receives an authentication request, the proxy relays and behaves as a virtual Home Subscriber Server (vHSS) for the 3GPP edge, and behaves as a virtual user for the fog, which is using OIDC. We applied PS3A and TSP3A to three federation scenarios among 3GPP edge and fog. Experimental results show that PS3A and TSP3A provide authentication within 0.345–2.858 s for a 0–100 Mbps proxy load. The results further show that TSP3A provides application mobility, while taking 40%–52% less time than PS3A, using state tokens. TSP3A and PS3A also reduce the service interruption latency by 82.4% and 84.6%, compared to the cloud-based service, via tokens and prefetching.

The Utility of Virtual Home Visits to Reduce Asthma Burden in Low-Income Black Communities in Louisiana During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Louisiana Department of Health identified a need for greater outreach in low-income Black communities that addressed environmental asthma triggers. We piloted an asthma virtual home visit (VHV) program and evaluated its reach and ability to promote asthma self-management strategies in communities with a high prevalence of poorly controlled asthma. Participants from Louisiana were continuously recruited into the VHV program starting in March 2021 and provided with asthma education materials. Participants reporting poorly controlled asthma and environmental triggers were also offered 3 VHVs with a respiratory therapist. All participants were asked to complete a preintervention and postintervention knowledge test, an Asthma Control Test (ACT) (maximum score = 25; scores ≤19 indicate poorly controlled asthma), and a final survey that assessed perceptions about asthma management and reduction of environmental triggers. As of October 2022, 147 participants were enrolled in the program, and 52 had consented to and received ≥1 VHV. Forty VHV recipients (77%) were aged <18 years, 40 (77%) were Black people, and 46 (88%) were from families with extremely low or low incomes. Asthma symptoms improved across all participants, with a median increase of 2.4 points on the ACT. Knowledge tests revealed that 86% of participants learned about ≥1 new asthma trigger; a larger percentage of VHV recipients than nonrecipients (68% vs 36%) had an improved knowledge test score postintervention. Compared with preintervention, about three-quarters of participants reported feeling more empowered to self-manage their asthma and a significant improvement in their quality of life postintervention. The program provided virtual asthma education to communities with a high burden of asthma and improved asthma outcomes for participants. Similar virtual models can be used to promote health equity, especially in areas with limited access to health care.

Modeling and mobile home monitoring of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD)

With the increasing global aging population, dementia care has rapidly become a major social problem. Current diagnosis of Behavior and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) relies on clinical interviews, and behavioral rating scales based on a period of behavior observation, but these methods are not suitable for identification of occurrence of BPSD in the daily living, which is necessary for providing appropriate interventions for dementia, though, has been studied by few research groups in the literature. To address these issues, in this study developed a BPSD monitoring system consisting of a Psycho-Cognitive (PsyCo) BPSD model, a Behavior-Physio-Environment (BePhyEn) BPSD model, and an implementation platform. The PsyCo BPSD model provides BPSD assessment support to caregivers and care providers, while the BePhyEn BPSD model provides instantaneous alerts for BPSD enabled by a 24-hour home monitoring platform for early intervention, and thereby alleviation of burden to patients and caregivers. Data for acquiring the models were generated through extensive literature review and regularity determined. A mobile robot was utilized as the implementation platform for improving sensitivity of sensors for home monitoring, and elderly individual following algorithms were investigated. Experiments in a virtual home environment showed that, a virtual BPSD elderly individual can be followed safely by the robot, and BPSD occurrence could be identified accurately, demonstrating the possibility of modeling and identification of BPSD in home environment.

Lessons learnt during the workshop “Empowerment of citizens: fostering user engagement for innovative demand response for effective flexibility”

This open letter captures key insights and recommendations from five European projects—HESTIA, SENDER, ReDREAM, ACCEPT, and iFLEX—focused on consumer engagement in Demand Response (DR) initiatives. Highlighting diverse and effective engagement strategies, including co-creation activities and virtual home tours, the letter underscores project partners' commitment to tailored and impactful user engagement. Emphasising phased organisation, varied tools, and keyword utilisation aligned with engagement timelines, the projects recognize adaptability, motivation, and eligibility as essential elements in crafting engaging recruitment materials. Addressing diverse contexts, continuous assessment is pivotal for achieving co-creation and active participation. The insights contribute to the evolving energy transition landscape, offering practical guidelines for those implementing or contemplating DR engagement strategies.

The key: Abstraction, embodiment, and proper distance within the virtual home

The emergence of virtual reality (VR) humanitarian filmmaking as a genre over the past ten years has generated a large body of critical debate around the efficacy and ethics of VR as a tool for generating empathy towards marginalised communities. Whilst numerous studies have indicated the potential for VR to impact empathy levels of end users, there have been recurrent critiques of the power dynamics of VR production, as well as the value of empathy as a means of producing social change. Lacking in these discussions has been a detailed consideration of VR aesthetics and the extent to which stylistic strategies impact audience positioning. Through the example of the animated VR experience The Key (Celine Tricart, 2019), this article will explore experience design in the context of ethical debates around humanitarian VR. As an interactive, narrative experience that addresses themes of loss and displacement, The Key can be productively analysed in relation to both VR ethics and wider cultural understandings of home and belonging. Responding to ethical debates around proximity within immersive experiences, the article will examine aesthetic strategies within The Key for ensuring what Roger Silverstone has labelled “proper distance” between the user and the virtually represented space. Through its use of visual abstraction and simplification, as well as the limited physical interaction it affords with its virtual world, the virtual home of The Key will be understood as a site of resistance to universalising narratives of home, one which invites critical reflection on the factors that determine our access to shelter.

Context-aware composition of agent policies by Markov decision process entity embeddings and agent ensembles

Computational agents support humans in many areas of life and are therefore found in heterogeneous contexts. This means that agents operate in rapidly changing environments and can be confronted with huge state and action spaces. In order to perform services and carry out activities satisfactorily, i.e. in a goal-oriented manner, agents require prior knowledge and therefore have to develop and pursue context-dependent policies. The problem here is that prescribing policies in advance is limited and inflexible, especially in dynamically changing environments. Moreover, the context (i.e. the external and internal state) of an agent determines its choice of actions. Since the environments in which agents operate can be stochastic and complex in terms of the number of states and feasible actions, activities are usually modelled in a simplified way by Markov decision processes so that, for example, agents with reinforcement learning are able to learn policies, i.e. state-action pairs, that help to capture the context and act accordingly to optimally perform activities. However, training policies for all possible contexts using reinforcement learning is time-consuming. A requirement and challenge for agents is to learn strategies quickly and respond immediately in cross-context environments and applications, e.g., the Internet, service robotics, cyber-physical systems. In this work, we propose a novel simulation-based approach that enables a) the representation of heterogeneous contexts through knowledge graphs and entity embeddings and b) the context-aware composition of policies on demand by ensembles of agents running in parallel. The evaluation we conducted with the “Virtual Home” dataset indicates that agents with a need to switch seamlessly between different contexts, e.g. in a home environment, can request on-demand composed policies that lead to the successful completion of context-appropriate activities without having to learn these policies in lengthy training steps and episodes, in contrast to agents that use reinforcement learning. The presented approach enables both context-aware and cross-context applicability of untrained computational agents. Furthermore, the source code of the approach as well as the generated data, i.e. the trained embeddings and the semantic representation of domestic activities, is open source and openly accessible on Github and Figshare.

A qualitative study of perspectives on the acceptability and feasibility of “virtual home visits” for asthma

BackgroundAsthma home-visit programs delivered by community health workers (CHWs) are an effective way to improve asthma outcomes and cost of care, through performing home environmental inspections, delivering education and hands-on demonstrations, and providing personalized behavior change support. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many in-person asthma CHW programs have been adapted to be delivered virtually, but it is unclear whether this is acceptable or feasible for clients with asthma. This qualitative study sought to identify perspectives of prior clients of the Public Health–Seattle & King County Asthma Program on acceptability and feasibility of a hypothetical virtual asthma program.MethodsWe performed semi-structured interviews with participants speaking English, Spanish, and Somali. An a priori codebook was developed based on the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability and was revised iteratively during coding. Intra-rater reliability was established, and thematic analysis was used to determine major themes.ResultsA total of 19 individuals participated (9 speaking English, 8 Spanish, and 2 Somali). Krippendorf’s alpha was 0.848, indicating high intra-rater reliability. Our results demonstrated that many participants felt positively about the prospect of completing the program virtually, but they also expected a variety of challenges, the most important of which were lack of engagement with the CHW and lack of confidence in the accuracy of a virtual home inspection. Participants also varied widely in their comfort level with videoconferencing platforms and their access to adequate internet connectivity.ConclusionsAcceptability and feasibility of virtual programming varies widely between participants, indicating that there may be no “one-size-fits-all” approach. We present several recommendations for adapting in-person asthma home visit programs to a virtual format, including considering a hybrid approach to delivery, making concerted efforts to build rapport when using videoconferencing, and deliberately evaluating the effectiveness of new adaptations, especially if a virtual environmental assessment is attempted.

The Electromagnetic Exposure Level of a Pure Electric Vehicle Inverter Based on a Real Human Body

In order to quantitatively analyze the electromagnetic exposure dose of an inverter in a pure electric vehicle to the driver’s body and assess the safety of the electromagnetic exposure, based on a real human anatomy model in the virtual home project, a real human model with several organs and tissues, including muscles, bones, a heart, lungs, a liver, kidneys, a bladder, a skull, a scalp, white matter, and a cerebellum, was constructed. The inverter of a pure electric vehicle is considered to be the electromagnetic exposure source; for this study, an equivalent electromagnetic environment model composed of a real human body, an inverter, and a vehicle body was built. The distribution of induced fields in the driver’s tissues and organs was calculated and analyzed using the finite element method. The results show that the distribution of the magnetic flux density, induced electric field, and induced current density in the driver’s body was affected by the spatial distance of the inverter. The farther the distance was, the weaker the value was. Specifically, due to the different dielectric properties of the different tissues, the induced field in the different tissues was significantly different. However, the maximum magnetic flux density over the space occupied by the driver’s body and induced electric field in the driver’s trunk and central nervous system satisfied the exposure limits of the International Commission on Non-Ionization Radiation Protection, indicating that the electromagnetic environments generated by the inverter proposed in this paper are safe for the vehicle driver’s health. The numerical results of this study could also effectively supplement the study of the electromagnetic environments of pure electric vehicles and provide some references for protecting the drivers of pure electric vehicles from electromagnetic radiation.

Impact of respiratory care training and family support using telemedicine on tracheostomized children admitted with respiratory infection after discharge

ObjectiveChildren with tracheostomies usually require a long hospital stay, high healthcare costs and caregiver burden. With the help of telemedicine, this study attempted to determine how home respiratory care training and family support affected admission days, admission costs, ICU admission rates, and caregivers’ confidence.MethodsWe enrolled children with tracheostomies who were admitted between 2020 and 2022 with respiratory infections. Before discharge, we evaluated the knowledge and skills of the caregivers and gave them practice in home respiratory care while providing them with structured feedback using a checklist, a peer-to-peer mentor assignment, a virtual home visit, teleeducation, and teleconsultation via a mobile application. We compared the admission days, admission costs, and ICU admission rates one year following the program with the historical control one year earlier.ResultsForty-eight children with tracheostomies were enrolled. Thirteen percent of those had a 1-year readmission. The median [IQR] number of admission days decreased from 55 [15–140] to 6 [4–17] days (p value < 0.001). The median [IQR] admission costs decreased from 300,759 [97,032 – 1,132,323] to 33,367 [17,898—164,951] baht (p value < 0.001). The ICU admission rates decreased from 43.8% to 2.1% (p value < 0.001). Immediately after the program, caregivers’ confidence increased from 47.9% to 85.5% (p value < 0.001).ConclusionsThis respiratory care training and telehealth program decreased admission days, admission costs, and ICU admission rates for children with tracheostomies admitted with respiratory infections. The confidence of caregivers was also increased immediately after the program.

My virtual home: needs of patients in palliative cancer care and content effects of individualized virtual reality – a mixed methods study protocol

BackgroundThe desire to be at home is one of the most important needs of patients with advanced, incurable cancers. However, palliative cancer patients may require inpatient hospital care for medical reasons. Virtual reality (VR) could provide an approximation to the individuals’ home environment.MethodsThe project consists of 3 parts. All parts are supported by the patient advisory board. In the 1st part of the project, we interview patients, relatives, and the patient advisory board about their wishes and concerns regarding the project. In the 2nd part of the project, patients are offered to view 360° VR videos of their choice (their home, relatives, others if applicable). Effects and side-effects of the intervention are assessed with validated instruments (MIDOS, MDBF, SSQ, SPES). Diagnosis, treatment adherence, medication, and vegetative functionality is determined from the medical records of the patients. In the 3rd part of the project, the results of the study will be discussed with patients, relatives, health care professionals and the patient advisory board regarding implementation.DiscussionThis study is the first to investigate whether individualized VR videos have additional benefits over generic VR nature videos on symptom relief, well-being, treatment satisfaction, and adherence in patients with palliative cancer care. A strength of the study is that we can incorporate the results of each part of the project into the subsequent project parts. However, the generalizability might be limited as this is a single-centred study.Trial registrationRegistered at German Clinical Trials Register (Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien; DRKS); registration number: DRKS00032172; registration date: 11/07/2023 https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00032172.

Mixed-methods evaluation of home visiting workforce wellbeing and telework in Florida

ObjectivesTo examine the impact of telework on the well-being and quality of life of Florida’s perinatal home visiting workforce. MethodA mixed-methods follow-up evaluation of telework experiences and practices among Florida home visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted. Data was collected via a 22-question statewide survey and 30 questions from the Professional Quality of Life Measure (ProQOL). ResultsStaff felt supported by their organizations in working from home (telework) during the pandemic, and quality of life indicators suggest that many were thriving. Some staff reported that additional technological and emotional support is needed. Virtual home visiting services were reported as convenient, comfortable, and timesaving, although barriers such as lack of client engagement and difficulty maintaining work-life balance were mentioned. ConclusionsThis evaluation provided an update on telehealth perinatal support services and the overall wellbeing of home visiting employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings suggest that virtual or hybrid services may be appropriate for some home visitors and families, although more evaluation of families’ perspectives is needed. Policy implicationsFlexible telework arrangements, with corresponding flexibility in virtual or hybrid services delivery, should be considered to support home visits and families following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Home virtuality and the platformized life of Chinese international students in the United Kingdom

AbstractThis article examines a nascent phenomenon in which a cluster of digital platforms mimicking popular Chinese apps has popped up in various cities in the United Kingdom (UK). They have been eagerly adopted by a strong clientele composed mainly of Chinese international students and young working migrants from China. Drawing on data we gathered from the British city of Manchester, one of the most popular destinations for Chinese international students, we propose the concept of home virtuality to illustrate how Chinese student migrants’ frequent surfing of these Chinese‐style digital platforms has created a ‘virtual home’ that is quite reminiscent of the platformized lifestyle in China, and that thus offers them a sense of connection to home. We argue that this ‘home virtuality’ does not only imply a virtual connection but is also a home environment materialized through the familiar app services of the new Chinese platform businesses in the UK.

An Interaction Framework for Designing Systems for Virtual Home Assistants and People with Dysarthria

AbstractPeople with speech impairments usually use assistive technology devices to assist them with communication and daily tasks. These devices can be controlled using different modalities, such as touch, eye gaze, gestures, and others. This article proposes a standardized methodology for designing non-verbal voice cue interactive systems that enable people with dysarthria to vocally interact with virtual home assistants (VHAs). We adopted a qualitative data-gathering approach to gain insights into users’ experiences and requirements and to determine crucial design elements for designing interactive voice assistants for people with dysarthria. Nineteen participants with varying levels of dysarthria took part in the study to create the framework. A system was then built using the proposed framework, and an additional test was performed with a further seven participants to validate the created system, thus inferring the validity of the framework. Our work empirically demonstrates how an informed, structured design of a fast, direct (verbal rather than forcing users to change modalities or using an intermediate device) method of communication improves the usability of VHAs for people with dysarthria while simultaneously allowing for a more authentic experience. The current data also highlighted that using non-verbal voice cues would be a convenient option. By providing a reproducible framework for developing non-verbal interactive systems for VHAs, we can increase the accessibility of said devices, their usability, and their user experience.

Virtual home visits during COVID-19 pandemic: mothers’ and home visitors’ perspectives

BackgroundThe experiences of mothers enrolled in Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program with virtual home visiting (VHV) during the pandemic remain mostly unknown. This study aimed to describe in detail the experience of home visitors and mothers with VHV during COVID-19 pandemic. This is a prerequisite for guiding future efforts to optimize MIECHV services that are provided through virtual operation.MethodsFocus groups discussion were conducted with home visitors (n = 13) and mothers (n = 30) who were enrolled in BabyCare program in Virginia from January 2019 to June 2022. This included mothers who received in-person home visiting (IPHV), VHV, or both (hybrid IPHV and VHV). Inductive analysis was used to identify emergent themes from the transcripts, then coding was conducted following a codebook that was developed by the research team.ResultsBoth mothers and home visitors considered IPHV necessary for a proper assessment of developmental milestones of children, for the assessment of the growth of the child through measuring the weight and height/length of the child, for the mothers to open up and discuss sensitive issues like domestic violence, for building a relationship between home-visitor and the parents, and for other potential benefits (comprehensive assessment of the environment around the child inside and outside the house from home visitors’ perspective and detecting abnormal health conditions in children from mothers’ perspective). Both mothers and home visitors see that VHV has some role to play but not to be a replacement for IPHV. If VHV is to be used, video conference is preferred by both mothers and home visitors, as it allows for some assessment.ConclusionMothers and nurses considered IPHV critical for proper and comprehensive assessment of the child and the family and also essential to build the nurse-client relationship. Both mothers and home visitors considered VHV supplementary to IPHV that can be used from time to time particularly with busy mothers. VHV may have little room with parents with intellectual disabilities and the difficulty in dealing with technology seems to be no longer a major issue.