Category: Computing

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The colloquium took place at the gorgeous campus of the University of Reading in Reading. Its aim was to promote Women in Computing and a range of students attended to present poster abstracts in four categories. The categories were first year, second year, final year (which incorporated third years and fourth years) and MSc. My category had thirty people in it as it covered two year groups. Throughout the day we listened to inspiring talks from women in the field and in academia. The range of topics of the talks and posters was vast and very interesting. It was attended by university students, industry and academics.

Standing beside my poster
Standing beside my poster

My poster was about my final year project - Seizure Pad. My younger brother was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy when he was four years old. From then, I have helped care for him. As technology has advanced, my mother has tried multiple methods to assist in managing his seizures. However, none were suitable enough. I began to do some research and found that she was not alone. That’s where Seizure Pad comes in.

The rise in ubiquitous computing has seen advancements in eHealth. From health care applications to Internet based health monitoring systems, there is a range of eHealth tools available for patients. For those with epilepsy, eHealth provides digital diaries and analytical tools to monitor seizures. However, these tools do not support those with complex epilepsy. Good management of complex epilepsy requires carers to log and analyse data about frequent seizures. Current eHealth is limited because the lack of user involvement in the design and development of applications has failed to identify and support the communication of complex data between the patients and clinicians, which in turn leads to poor overall support and management.

Seizure Pad was developed as a result of an experience driven design study following a participatory approach. It has involved working closely with a range of clinicians, patients and other users to ensure an inclusive support tool for those with complex epilepsy. By identifying the types of data to be recorded and providing an intuitive user interface, it presents a new framework to assist in seizure management. Seizure Pad offers customised input fields, automatic data capture and a clear analysis of the data. This visualisation of data empowers the patients to be more independent and contribute to their healthcare.

Currently the study has developed a prototype, which is being tested by end-users. I am hoping to conduct further research which will involve a randomised clinical trial of Seizure Pad to further test its impact on the communication divide and self-efficacy of the user.

Collecting my prize from EMC
Collecting my prize from EMC

I was humbled to have won the finally year category at the BCSLovelace Colloquium 2014 as the projects I was presenting alongside were amazing. EMC gave me a very generous cash prize of £300 and I also received a goody bag which included, among other things, a furry Android, which has been stolen by my cat, Bitcoin! Although this is the fifth conference to attend and fourth to present at, I found it the most enjoyable. Whereas the other conferences were focused on a particular topic of research, this one was so varied. Everyone I spook to had a completely different focus and project to my own. It was exciting as I rarely get to talk to students out with my own class, and never do I get to talk to some many fascinating women. Also, one of my biggest fears about joining the IT industry is my lack of interest in the more technical side. However, this conference showed me that I have nothing to fear as the variety of exciting positions available is far greater than I had previously thought! I think the most valuable thing I took away with me was that life is about risks, sometimes they work out other times they don’t but it’s just about finding out what works for yourself. As all the brilliant speakers said, if one job doesn’t feel right, look at a different area within IT for we are part of an ever changing industry!

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I use my university VPN a lot for getting access to research papers but when I moved to Edinburgh I found that I couldn't access the VPN from our home network. Multiple calls to the support team - I use that term loosely! - and wasted time explaining my issues I still didn't succeed. So, I gave up and resorted to tethering my computer to my phone and accessing the VPN that way. However, my wonderful friend has better persuasion abilities than I do as she finally got a solution!

Instructions on getting access to your VPN:

  1. Navigate to 'http://192.168.0.1/VmLogin.asp'
  2. Login. The defaults are username='admin' and password='changeme'. Enter the details you changed it to if you changed it.
  3. Open the 'Advanced Settings' at the bottom right of the box.
  4. Access the 'Firewall' settings.
  5. In the section 'Pass Through', tick all three boxes. You may have to select the 'Firewall' check box first.
  6. Click 'Apply' at the bottom right.
  7. You can now access your VPN, clever you!

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Background

Over the last thirty years Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) has become more accepted within society [2, 4]. Although still not perfect, the advances in technology has produced a range of devices that now allow users to lead fuller lives. However, AAC users often have other challenges in life in addition to communication difficulties. Other medical conditions and symptoms of the underling cause of a limited ability to communicate through vocal tracts presents these users with yet another barrier. For example, limited mobility, physical impairments and pain are a few additional challenges face by those who use AAC.

With these additional challenges comes an increase in feelings of isolation, lack of motivation and a feeling of being useless [2, 6]. This can further reduce the AAC user's quality of life [6]. During these times support is sought from a range of sources. Humans are sociable and seek support from others. This is especially the case when the person is struggling emotionally or physically.  Although there has been evidence for the benefits of face-to-face support groups [2, 6], typically speaking AAC users are often unable to benefit from these sources of support. Their limited mobility, inability to express themselves fully in a group setting or the distance required to travel to support centres restricts these users from seeking the additional care they need in this format [2, 4, 6].

eHealth

With the growing field of digital health care, or eHealth [7], technology is presenting new ways or assisting users in the medical field [3]. eHealth is a low cost method of assisting users in a mixture of support, including online forums. Online forums and pages can be found on websites and social media sites which support those with various conditions. These have been found to compliment the formal care provided by the National Health services [2, 3, 4, 6, 8]. They, and other eHealth tools, encourage the user to self manage their condition through self-efficacy [3, 4, 6] and create a community who truly understand what they are experiencing reducing the sense of isolation [4, 6].

However, the AAC users are often excluded from the full benefits of these digital support tools because of a lack of consideration from the developers of their additional needs. In the case of websites, the forums are often very difficult for AAC users to traverse []. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) [9] presents a set of guidelines to develop digital spaces that are inclusive. This solves some issues but focus more on the access of the information rather than the active participation of users in these support areas.

Research has demonstrated the benefits of a social community and its improved results compared to face-to-face groups [4, 6]. For an AAC user, ease of access from their home and textual based forms of communication are often easier. However, in order to try and navigate through the complex sites it is tiring and frustrating. This only strengthens the gap between the AAC user and the eHealth system.

User Centred Design

Bryen et al. [2] emphasise the need for web inclusivity and a new method of providing navigation support. When these assistive means are applied to support forums it presents an equal opportunity for AAC users to actively seek support from people in a similar position to themselves. Further research has proven the benefits to AAC users when systems are designed with them [1,6] as this helps ensure that their feedback creates a system that supports their needs, abilities and requirements.

User Centred Design is the methodology where the developers and designers focus on the end user’s needs during development. This involves participant meetings where requirements are acquired, the system is evaluated and feedback is given to the developers. Focus groups and interviews have been shown to aid in their process of understanding users, specifically AAC users [1,6, 8].  It highlights new areas perhaps unthought-of of by the developing team before which in turn creates a more functional tool [3, 4, 5, 8].

Discussion

eHealth can be largely beneficial to AAC users in supporting them in their daily management of the challenges that they face [4]. However, developers need to accommodate their additional needs in order to prevent a further exclusion from a support tool. Participant involvement is showing clear signs of improving eHealth tools for all users [1, 3 ,5, 6, 8] and can shape the design of the eHealth to be easier to access for AAC users.

In addition, improvements made to eHealth tools present another step towards better medical and emotional support [3, 4, 6]. The communication gap between medical staff and patients can be improved [3] and a more inclusive care plan given. It presents AAC users with more independence and a platform for self-management which has been shown to be beneficial to the coping process [4]. Sharing experiences and methods of managing daily challenges aids in improving the AAC user’s quality of life.

However, care must be taken when delivery a new tool. Thought must be given to the dexterity, knowledge and access needs of the users [3, 5, 8]. It is not simply enough to make an eHealth tool that is usable by those who are visually impaired. Other AAC users exist who use non-typical input devices, and who use a symbol based languages.

Conclusion

The WAI is a step forward in improving the accessibility but more usability consideration need to be considered when developing eHealth tools [4] especially those when developed on mobile devices [3, 4]. Developing systems which cater for those who have different needs widens the user group for a system and therefore the market value. If more user participation is involved in the development stages, eHealth can be used to bridge the communication and support gap between medical staff, carers and AAC users [2, 6]. This will have a positive effect on the quality of life [2, 3, 6] of an AAC user and generate a more robust support channel for a lower cost. However, this will only succeed if the users are involved through a participation driven development approach.

References

[1] Barratt A, Prior S, Waller A. Addressing Narrative Retrieval in Personal Narrative Systems. 15th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Alternative and Augmentative Communication (ISAAC), (Pittsburgh, PA, USA, July 28 - August 4, 2012).

[2] Bryen, J.N., Heake, G., Semenuk, A., and Segal, M., 2010, ‘Improving Web Access for Individuals who Rely on Augmentative and Alternative Communication’, Augmentative and Alternative Communication 2010, Volume 26, Issue 1, pp 21-29.

[3] Ellis, H.R, 2013, ‘Seizure Frequency Analysis Mobile Application: The Participatory Design of an Interface with and for Caregivers’, CHI EA '13 CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp 2683-2688.

[4] Light, J. and McNaughton, D., 2012, ’The Changing Face of Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Past, Present, and Future Challenges’, Augmentative and Alternative Communication 2012, Volume 28, Issue 4, pp 197-204.

[5] Maloney, D. and Preece, J., 2005, ‘A Multilevel Analysis of Sociability, Usability, and Community Dynamics in an Online Health Community’, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), Volume 12, Issue 2, pp 201 – 232.

[6] Moore SK, Guarino H, Acosta MC, Aronson ID, Marsch LA, Rosenblum A, Grabinski MJ, Turk DC, 2013, ‘Patients as Collaborators: Using Focus Groups and Feedback Sessions to Develop an Interactive, Web-Based Self-Management Intervention for Chronic Pain’, Pain Medicine 2013.

[7] Pagliari, C., Sloan, D., Gregor, P., Sullivan, F., Detmer, D., Kahan, J.P., Oortwijn, W., MacGillivray, S., 2005, ‘What Is eHealth (4): A Scoping Exercise to Map the Field’, Journal of Medical Internet Research 2005, Volume 7, Issue 1.

[8] Prior, S., Waller, A., Thilo, K., 2013, ‘Focus Groups as a Requirements Gathering Method with Adults with Severe Speech and Physical Impairments’, Journal Behaviour & Information Technology 2013, volume 32, Issue 8, pp 752-780.

[9] Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Available: http://www.w3.org/WAI/. (10th Nov 2013)

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Late last summer I began considering how best to tackle a challenge posed to me by my mother. A challenge to develop an app for my brother ( An aid in a diminishing world ). Due to university coursework restrictions and constraints, after my intial brainstorm back in August I have only just now been able to create a low-key prototype in the form of sketches. After working alongside my mother to create a set of requirements, I have now attempted to put those functions into a visual representation. Following a user-centred approach I will be working alongside my mother and other individuals to help develop this app into a useful aid for other carers of people like my brother ( The deterioration of an infantile ).

Homescreen of app
The main homescreen

As of yet I have not designed a homescreen and keeping with the process of user-centred design I have not begun coding until I am sure that what I am designing meets the needs of my mother, the 'client'. From the start I wanted this app to be a clean, simple to use application. Most of the users will be in situations similar to my mother and will be a carer 24/7. Any moment spared will not be spared updating the details of the app if it is a lengthly or confusing process. As a result, I have decided to try and make this a binary process as much as possible. By separating the 'Seizure' and 'Challenging Behaviour' logs I will be able to speed up the update process. As you can see on the homescreen here I have just a handful of buttons.

Adding a new seizure menu
Adding a new seizure menu

Likewise, the input variables when adding a new seizure or challenging behaviour incident should be clear and concise, representing only the main options that users will need. Wherever possible, drop-down options should be available to minimise time spent adding a new incident. Creating two colour schemes is hoped to help the user identify which section of the app they are currently in making them less likely to incorrectly add an incident. With regular feedback the user will be able to understand any errors or issues that may arise. It must be noted that some of my scrawled notes relating to buttons on screen are merely brainstorming ideas that I have included.

jTrack challenging behaviour graphs
Track challenging behaviour graphs

Finally, the main goal in designing this app is to allow to user to clearly identify the main seizures and their frequency. By providing a concise graph that shows the output of the data entered by the user, they are able to see the trends of various individual seizures against time or against the total number of seizures. It is thought that a line graph may work well but the meeting with my mother will confirm whether this is the ideal form of output.

Although I am fully aware that this app only acts as a method of creating graphs, something that any spreadsheet could do, having this app on a mobile platform will enable the user to have more accurate and up to date information at their fingertips. My mother has expressed a hope that this will help her to monitor my brother's level of seizure activity and challenging behaviour more efficiently. It is my hope that I am help make this a reality for her and others in her position.

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In a previous post I discussed the struggles my mentally disabled brother, Callum, faces (The deterioration of an infantile). With a steady increase in his seizure activity and challenging behaviour my mother approached me with an idea for a device that after taking in data about Callum's seizure activity, would be able to draw up some graphs to give her a better method of comparing his current level of seizures to an earlier date.

Now as an Applied Computing student at Dundee University this was a project that interested me, firstly for the fact that I knew it would be of benefit to my mother - along with other carers - and for the challenge. I have only just finished my first year of the BSc course making me less familiar with the development platforms available but I am eager to develop this software as an app. As so many people use a smartphone now it would make the software more accessible to the people who benefit from its use.

After brainstorming some ideas with my mother, I have come up with the following criteria:

Required features:

  • Seizure part of device:
  • It must be able to input the:
  • Type of seizure
  • The length of seizure time
  • The length of recovery time
  • Any triggers (if applicable)
  • The surrounding environment as a possible cause
  • Any other notes
  • Record the date and time automatically of the event
  • Take the data and convert them into accessible graphs showing:
  • The frequency of all seizures over a given time period
  • The frequency of a particular type over a given period
  • The comparison of a particular type of seizure with the overall frequency of seizures over a given period
  • The frequency of all seizures at a particular time over the course of a day
  • The frequency of a particular seizure at a particular time over the course of a day
  • A comparison of the frequency of a particular trigger over a period of time
  • A comparison of the frequency of a particular surrounding environment over a period of time

Challenging behaviour part of device:

  • It must be able to input:
  • The length of challenging behaviour time
  • Any triggers
  • The surrounding environment as a possible cause
  • Any other notes
  • Record the date and time automatically of the event
  • Main signs of challenging behaviour
  • Steps taken to try and reduce chance of challenging behaviour (if applicable)
  • If steps taken to try and reduce outburst, were they successful?
  • The severity of the out burst
  • Take the data and convert them into accessible graphs showing:
  • The frequency of challenging behaviour over a given time period
  • The frequency of a particular severity over a given period
  • The comparison of a particular severity of seizure with the overall frequency of seizures over a given period
  • The frequency of challenging behaviour at a particular time over the course of a day
  • The frequency of a severity at a particular time over the course of a day
  • A comparison of the frequency of a particular trigger over a period of time
  • A comparison of the frequency of a particular surrounding environment over a period of time
  • A comparison of the success rate of a particular step to reduce outburst
  • A comparison of the most frequent signs of challenging behaviour

Additional bonus features:
The ability to enable multiple users on a single device through assigning usernames. As many carers work with a multiple of users it would enable carers and parents to use their own personal devices so that a more complete picture is built up. For the purposes of analysis, a psychologist may be given the usernames and password of a particular patient by their parent or guardian. This would enable the psychologist to compare their patients to better suggest a course of action for another family. Also, with a personal profile on the user’s profile, the parent or guardian could enter the medicine and condition that the individual has to enable a comparison for the psychologist of their patients based on medicine to find similar trends. Although it is hoped to have the software available on a portable mainstream device, it is acknowledged that not all families have access to these devices so it is intended for a user friendly website to be set up in order for the parents to input, compare and update the profile information. In order for this to be successful the ability to override the current time and date with one if a parent or guardian is inputting data at a later point after the incident has occurred.

Perhaps in time, with consent of the parent or guardian, a wider comparison may be made from all the input from all devices in order to provide a wider picture to enable carers to try new methods of reducing incidents for the individual. This information would be anonymous and would be in the form of graphs using only the statistical information provided by the carers.

Suggestions
Like I have already said, I am new to the world of coding and development but I have an idea of what I want and am in the process of drawing out screenshots of the software. I would appreciate any suggestions of an approach to develop this idea. If anyone has any other suggestions for more aspects of the advice, please don’t hesitate to comment below. As this software is intended for improving the lives of the family members and providing a means of comparison, I want to include as many positive aspects as possible. My boyfriend, a fourth year applied student, has agreed to assist me with the coding of the software but we would welcome any other help regardless of where you are based. My goal is to make this affordable and accessible to as many families as possible. Watch this space for more information.

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As this was my first conference and I am still familiarising myself with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and their devices I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from these three days. I was not to be disappointed…

Having recently decided that I wanted to undertake a career in research and the further development of AAC devices, I was over the moon when the opportunity arose for me to attend the conference as a PA for my client, Alan. Eager to learn more about the field that I had begun to lean towards as a future career opportunity, I couldn’t have asked for more from the conference.

Starting at nine am in the morning we would choose the seminars that most interested us during the day and continue this way until around five pm. The range of talks available to attend was wondrous, from professionals to AAC users to parents who had taken up roles within the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) we were given a wide range of knowledge about AAC. By hearing from all the different groups one was able to gain a wide picture about the progress, internationally, on the development of devices for non- speakers or speakers of limited communication abilities. As a conference, the AAC users who gave us inspirational talks using their various communication devices spoilt us.

We listened to their stories of empowerment which illustrated that despite the boundaries put on their physical and communication abilities, these people had chosen to acknowledge the capabilities within their disability. They had overcome the limitations that society had imposed on them and found a way to lead full lives. From swimmers at the Paralympics Games to teens preparing to develop a support group for other disabled children to people who had gone on to gain University degrees and found new ways of improving the world for disabled people. As an able bodied person, I was left awestruck and inspired by these people who had overcome so much and were willing to share their stories and experiences with us.

Most of the professionals gave talks on the current research on going around the world, but one aspect in particular stood out to me. The majority of the professionals had no computer knowledge and didn’t appear to be building links with any ‘teckies’. As an undergraduate computing student myself, I thought this was a great disadvantage to the development of AAC devices. In a project as important and large as this, to bring a voice to everyone around the world, we need to work as a team. Experience from all sectors of the industry is essential to the success of AAC devices and not acknowledging this could be a critical downfall to the future of AAC. Without people to bring their personal experiences together with the technical background of the ‘teckies’ AAC devices will never reach their full potential.

In addition to the divided work pattern, I found that many people were focusing on the development of devices specifically for AAC users. This is the wrong approach, in my opinion, to take. Developing technology and software on mainstream technology that already exists allows for more inclusion into society for the user as they are welcomed as part of the crowd. Many users already feel the pain from society’s obnoxious exclusion due to their disability; they don’t want to stand out anymore with equipment that makes them even more ‘different’.

In a conversation today with a woman with Cerebral Palsy, we discussed how ‘society does not owe anyone anything regardless of their impairments’. This was an intriguing idea as it suggests that in order for us all to work in society we all have to give and take. Therefore shouldn’t users meet the able bodied half way and be allowed the chance to feel more included in society whilst still being allowed a voice in society. By allowing the user to feel included you provide a better chance at their happiness and ensure a greater unity amongst all people within society, regardless of their communication abilities. This point was briefly touched upon in the conclusion of the conference and I think will become a greater point of discussion in the coming future as people realise the limitations and excessive costs of AAC devices. Through the development of AAC software on mainstream technologies it allows more AAC users to gain a voice as that technology is more readily available and affordable thus increasing the chance of a greater unity within society.

Video link to Alan's talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlHuDZrkzbg

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Earlier today my physical computing team (SleepyStudents) and I presented our final product- the ‘ShakaSnooze’. Basically it’s an alarm clock that has the basic alarm functionality but is more intuitive than the ordinary alarm clock. To activate the snooze, simply SHAKE the ShakaSnooze and it will analyse your shake and set the snooze. Once you are ready to wake up, press the emoticon button that best represents your mood (either happy, sad or angry). Once your ShakaSnooze has detected the emoticon button, it will tweet your mood and how many times you had the snooze pressed letting all those who need to know your mood and whether you’re running late or not.

This afternoon we opened our doors to the public and were able to show case our projects where we received some really positive comments about the ShakaSnooze.

Follow us on Twitter @SleepyStudents if you want to see some of the posts or click the link below if you want to see our advert….

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Java and I had a little falling out last week and to be honest I was rather nervous about my java team project this week. This was for two main reasons:
a) I don't really enjoy working in teams and the thought of coding in a team
just frightens me and
b) For every other computing group assignment that I had been given I had been placed
in great teams while most friends ended up in rather crap, lazy teams a lot of the
time so I was expecting a really awful group as punishment.
Well, I had nothing to fear. I ended up with a brilliant, hard working team and since we are going to be splitting up the Java coding it shouldn't be too bad at all! Not that it'll be easy- Java never allows things to be easy!-but it's nice not feeling totally overwhelmed.

It's amazing how much of a difference it makes discussing a plan in a team first before beginning to code. Just the simple act of bouncing ideas off people throws light on areas that are a bit murky. Although our team meetings today have certainly taught me that I need to brush up on Java!

So that's me still pleased with my team and waiting patiently (so patiently in fact that I could wait a lifetime) for my bad team to arrive...