Ageing and Digital Technology

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Ageing and Emerging Digital Technologies

   • Barbara Barbosa Neves, Frank Vetere

   Pages 1-14

3. Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

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   2. The Lady with the Roses and Other Invisible Users: Revisiting Unused Data on Nursing Home Residents in Living Labs

      • Anne Marie Kanstrup, Ann Bygholm

      Pages 17-33

   3. Aging in the Digital Age: Conceptualizing Technology Adoption and Digital Inequalities

      • Jessica Francis, Christopher Ball, Travis Kadylak, Shelia R. Cotten

      Pages 35-49

   4. Technology and Ageing—Theoretical Propositions from Science and Technology Studies (STS)

      • Alexander Peine

      Pages 51-64

   5. Building Social Connections: A Framework for Enriching Older Adults’ Social Connectedness Through Information and Communication Technologies

      • Jenny Waycott, Frank Vetere, Elizabeth Ozanne

      Pages 65-82

   6. Digital Games and Older People from a Theoretical and Conceptual Perspective: A Critical Literature Review

      • Sergio Sayago, Andrea Rosales, Valeria Righi, Susan M. Ferreira, Graeme W. Coleman, Josep Blat

      Pages 83-96

4. Methodological Approaches

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 97-97

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   2. Usability Is Ageless: Conducting Usability Tests with Older Adults

      • Rachel Franz, Barbara Barbosa Neves

      Pages 99-114

   3. Vignethnographies: A Method for Fast, Focused and Visual Exploration

      • Edgar Gómez Cruz, Jessica Noske-Turner, Jolynna Sinanan

      Pages 115-131

   4. Using Netnography to Research Older Adults’ Online Communities

      • Loredana Ivan

      Pages 133-150

   5. Older Adults as Co-researchers for Built Environments: Virtual Reality as a Means of Engagement

      • Stephanie Liddicoat, Clare Newton

      Pages 151-169

5. Ethical and Axiological Approaches

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171

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   2. Designing Technologies with Older Adults: Ethical Tensions and Opportunities

      • Jenny Waycott, John Vines

      Pages 173-187

   3. Field Studies of Interactive Technologies for Marginalized Users: A Canadian Ethics Policy Perspective

      • Cosmin Munteanu, Stephanie Sadownik

      Pages 189-211

   4. Working with Assistive Technologies and People Living with Dementia

      • Grant Gibson, Katie Brittain, Louise Robinson

      Pages 213-227

6. Case Studies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 229-229

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   2. The Technology Explorers: Partnering with Older Adults to Engage with Virtual Reality and Virtual Avatars

      • Steven Baker, Jenny Waycott, Frank Vetere, Thuong Hoang

      Pages 231-246

   3. Exergames and Neuropsychological Functions in Older Adults: An Experimental Approach

      • Adriano Pasqualotti, Fausto Amaro, Barbara Barbosa Neves

      Pages 247-265

This book brings together Sociologists, Computer Scientists, Applied Scientists and Engineers to explore the design, implementation and evaluation of emerging technologies for older people. It offers an innovative and comprehensive overview, not only of the rapidly developing suite of current digital technologies and platforms, but also of perennial theoretical, methodological and ethical issues. As such, it offers support for researchers and professionals who are seeking to understand and/or promote technology use among older adults. 
 
The contributions presented here offer theoretical and methodological frameworks for understanding age-based digital inequalities, participation, digital design and socio-gerontechnology. They include ethical and practical reflections on the design and evaluation of emerging technologies for older people, as well as guidelines for ethical, participatory, professional and cross-disciplinary research and practice. In addition, they feature state-of-the-art, international empirical research on communication technologies, games, assistive technology and social media. 
 
As the first truly multidisciplinary book on technology use among ageing demographics, and intended for students, researchers, applied researchers, practitioners and professionals in a variety of fields, it will provide these readers with insights, guidelines and paradigms for practice that transcend specific technologies, and lay the groundwork for future research and new directions in innovation.

• Technology and ageing
• Digital technology and seniors
• Digital technology and elderly
• Information technologies and seniors
• Communication technologies and seniors
• Information technologies and elderly
• Communication technologies and elderly
• Technology design for seniors
• Technology and social gerontology
• Older adults and virtual social environments
• Multidisciplinary approaches to ageing and technology
• Theoretical perspectives on ageing and technology
• Research methods for ageing and technology
• Emerging technologies for seniors
• Ageing and social participation
• Technology and elderly autonomy
• Technology design for elderly
• Computer science and the elderly
• Digital technology and social change
• Assistive technologies

• School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

  Barbara Barbosa Neves

• School of Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

  Frank Vetere

Barbara Barbosa Neves is a lecturer in Sociology at the University of Melbourne. Her research intersects the sociology of technology with social networks, ageing, social inequalities and digital and social inclusion. This work crosses the Social Sciences, Computer Science and Engineering, and has been published in both top tier Sociology journals and Computer Science (HCI) contexts. Barbara has held academic appointments at the University of Lisbon and the University of Oslo, she was an Associate Director and Research Associate of the ‘Technologies for Aging Gracefully Lab’ at the Department of Computer Science of the University of Toronto, and she is an elected board member of the International Sociological Association. Barbara's research has been used to improve the design and implementation of digital technologies for older adults as well as to inform social policy on digital literacy. 
Frank Vetere is a Professor of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne. He is the Director of the Microsoft Research Centre for Social Natural User Interfaces and leads the Interaction Design Laboratory, both at the University of Melbourne. Frank's expertise is in Human-Computer Interactions (HCI), with particular interests in Social Computing, Natural User Interfaces, and technologies for ageing-well. His research aims to generate knowledge about the use and design of information and communication technologies (ICT) for human wellbeing and social benefit. Frank has led four large Australian Research Council (ARC) projects and in 2011 was awarded the CHISIG Medal for outstanding service to and promotion of Human-Computer Interaction in Australia.

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