Digital communities for older adults deploying human-centric technologies for super-smart society
Y. Nameki, N. Kurashima, K. Chin
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AbstractIn today’s super-smart society, it is expected that everyone can easily use new devices, functions and services, and benefit from advanced Information Technology (Japan Cabinet Office,n.d.). However, the information gap among Older Adults in the Internet society is becoming more pronounced as face-to-face communication is severely restricted in the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the reasons why it is difficult for older adults to access information utilizing Information Technology is because it is too complicated for them to create a mental model. A mental model is an "image of behavior" in a person's mind, such as "this will happen if that happens”. People's behavior is greatly influenced by their mental models. When using digital devices, users need to create a mental model not only of the inputs and outputs of the device in front of them, but also of the applications that run inside the device and the data on the Internet that lies beyond it. Fear and anxiety caused by the inability to create a mental model will act as a disincentive to the use of digital devices. Therefore it is naturally assumed that those older adults can utilize smart devices as a means to access to the Internet and to be connected with others if an appropriate mental model can be created. Ambient Computing (Loi, 2019) as a part of human-centric technology may simplify a mental model and solve the problem.Keywords: mental model, human-centric technology, ambient technology, information gap, digital community, Society5.0
Y. Nameki, N. Kurashima, K. Chin (2022). Digital communities for older adults deploying human-centric technologies for super-smart society. Gerontechnology, 21(s),1-1
https://doi.org/10.4017/gt.2022.21.s.729.pp4