Pervasive Technologies for Health: a Focus on the Human

In recent years, pervasive technologies for health, or Pervasive Healthcare, has emerged as a vital discipline in its own right. Just as Pervasive Computing has served as a focal point for merging deep technical issues with human-centered approaches in order to integrate technology into everyday settings, Pervasive Healthcare poses challenges that are both technical and human. In this talk, I will describe some of the Pervasive Healthcare projects at Indiana University, focusing on the human element of applications designed not for the medical profession, but for everyday people. Resulting applications range from one that helps a chronically ill population manage their disease, to a preventative application that encourages the adoption of healthier behaviors in formative years. At the end, I will introduce an exciting new initiative at Indiana University that involves 6 faculty members and investigates one of the most pressing problems within the Pervasive Healthcare field.

Speaker Details

Dr. Kay Connelly’s research focuses on user acceptance of ubiquitous and mobile computing technologies where there is a delicate balance between such factors as convenience, control and privacy. Dr. Connelly is currently investigating three application domains: 1. convenience applications such as automatically configuring a cell phone’s notification mechanism depending on the physical and social context of the cell phone owner, 2. health care applications to empower both the ill and the healthy to manage and improve their own health, and 3. work and learning applications such as a tool to assist students in gathering environmental data while simultaneously supporting data analysis in the field.Dr. Connelly is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department at Indiana University where she leads the Security for Ubiquitous Resources Group (SURG: www.cs.indiana.edu/surg) and co-founded the Ethical Technologies in the Homes of Seniors lab (ETHOS: ethos.indiana.edu). She is also the Associate Director of Indiana University’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research.

Date:
Speakers:
Kay Connelly
Affiliation:
Indiana University