Background and Objectives Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely positioned to become a key element of intelligent technologies used in the long-term care (LTC) for older adults. The increasing relevance and adoption of AI has encouraged debate over the societal and ethical implications of introducing and scaling AI. This scoping review investigates how the design and implementation of AI technologies in LTC is addressed responsibly: so called responsible innovation (RI). Research Design and Methods We conducted a systematic literature search in five electronic databases using concepts related to LTC, AI and RI. We then performed a descriptive and thematic analysis to map the key concepts, types of evidence and gaps in the literature. Results After reviewing 3,339 papers, 25 papers were identified that met our inclusion criteria. From this literature, we extracted three overarching themes: user-oriented AI innovation; framing AI as a solution to RI issues; and context-sensitivity. Our results provide an overview of measures taken and recommendations provided to address responsible AI innovation in LTC. Discussion and Implications The review underlines the importance of the context of use when addressing responsible AI innovation in LTC. However, limited empirical evidence actually details how responsible AI innovation is addressed in context. Therefore, we recommend expanding empirical studies on RI at the level of specific AI technologies and their local contexts of use. Also, we call for more specific frameworks for responsible AI innovation in LTC to flexibly guide researchers and innovators. Future frameworks should clearly distinguish between RI processes and outcomes.

In face-to-face social interactions, blind and visually impaired persons (VIPs) lack access to nonverbal cues like facial expressions, body posture, and gestures, which may lead to impaired interpersonal communication. In this study, a wearable sensory substitution device (SSD) consisting of a head mounted camera and a haptic belt was evaluated to determine whether vibrotactile cues around the waist could be used to convey facial expressions to users and whether such a device is desired by VIPs for use in daily living situations. Ten VIPs (mean age: 38.8, SD: 14.4) and 10 sighted persons (SPs) (mean age: 44.5, SD: 19.6) participated in the study, in which validated sets of pictures, silent videos, and videos with audio of facial expressions were presented to the participant. A control measurement was first performed to determine how accurately participants could identify facial expressions while relying on their functional senses. After a short training, participants were asked to determine facial expressions while wearing the emotion feedback system. VIPs using the device showed significant improvements in their ability to determine which facial expressions were shown. A significant increase in accuracy of 44.4% was found across all types of stimuli when comparing the scores of the control (mean±SEM: 35.0±2.5%) and supported (mean±SEM: 79.4±2.1%) phases. The greatest improvements achieved with the support of the SSD were found for silent stimuli (68.3% for pictures and 50.8% for silent videos). SPs also showed consistent, though not statistically significant, improvements while supported. Overall, our study shows that vibrotactile cues are well suited to convey facial expressions to VIPs in real-time. Participants became skilled with the device after a short training session. Further testing and development of the SSD is required to improve its accuracy and aesthetics for potential daily use.

BackgroundTelemedicine applications often do not live up to their expectations and often fail once they have reached the operational phase.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to explore the determinants of patient adherence to a blended care rehabilitation program, which includes a Web portal, from a patient’s perspective.MethodsPatients were enrolled in a 12-week oncology rehabilitation treatment supported by a Web portal that was developed in cooperation with patients and care professionals. Semistructured interviews were used to analyze thought processes and behavior concerning patient adherence and portal use. Interviews were conducted with patients close to the start and the end of the treatment. Besides, usage data from the portal were analyzed to gain insights into actual usage of the portal.ResultsA total of 12 patients participated in the first interview, whereas 10 participated in the second round of interviews. Furthermore, portal usage of 31 patients was monitored. On average, 11 persons used the portal each week, with a maximum of 20 in the seventh week and a drop toward just one person in the weeks in the follow-up period of the treatment. From the interviews, it was derived that patients’ behavior in the treatment and use of the portal was primarily determined by extrinsic motivation cues (eg, stimulation by care professionals and patient group), perceived severity of the disease (eg, physical and mental condition), perceived ease of use (eg, accessibility of the portal and the ease with which information is found), and perceived usefulness (eg, fit with the treatment).ConclusionsThe results emphasized the impact that care professionals and fellow patients have on patient adherence and portal usage. For this reason, the success of blended care telemedicine interventions seems highly dependent on the willingness of care professionals to include the technology in their treatment and stimulate usage among patients.

The rise of smart technologies has created new opportunities to support blind and visually impaired persons (VIPs). One of the biggest problems we identified in our previous research on problems VIPs face during activities of daily life concerned the recognition of persons and their facial expressions. In this study we developed a system to detect faces, recognize their emotions, and provide vibrotactile feedback about the emotions expressed. The prototype system was tested to determine whether vibrotactile feedback through a haptic belt is capable of enhancing social interactions for VIPs.The system consisted of commercially available technologies. A Logitech C920 webcam mounted on a cap, a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 carried in a mesh backpack, an Elitac tactile belt worn around the waist, and the VicarVision FaceReader software application, which recognizes facial expressions.In preliminary tests with the systems both visually impaired and sighted persons were presented with sets of stimuli consisting of actors displaying six emotions (e.g. joy, surprise, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust) derived from the validated Amsterdam Dynamic Facial Expression Set and Warsaw Set of Emotional Facial Expression Pictures with matching audio by using nonlinguistic affect bursts. Subjects had to determine the emotions expressed in the videos without and, after a training period, with haptic feedback.An exit survey was conducted aimed to gain insights into the opinion of the users, on the perceived usefulness and benefits of the emotional feedback, and their willingness of using the prototype as assistive technology in daily life.Haptic feedback about facial expressions may improve the ability of VIPs to determine emotions expressed by others and, as a result, increase the confidence of VIPs during social interactions. More studies are needed to determine whether this is a viable method to convey information and enhance social interactions in the daily life of VIPs.