Exploring the accessibility and appeal of surface computing for older adult health care support

Piper, A. M., Campbell, R., & Hollan, J. D. (2010). Exploring the accessibility and appeal of surface computing for older adult health care support. In Proceedings of the sigchi conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 907-916). ACM.

Summary

This paper looks at how a research group studied a population of older adults to determine if there was any utility to introducing surface computing into the health care environment.  In addition to trying to determine if older adults would benefit from surface computing, the researchers brought in a group of young adults to provide a comparison to a population more used to using surface computers.  This paper is a good example of a thoughtful study design that was employed to achieve a meaningful result.

Experience

Surface computing has become commonplace in my world.  Virtually every piece of technology I use has a surface with multitouch capabilities.  This paper serves as a good reminder that though a technology may be commonplace, when studying the use of that technology, it is a good idea to see if there is a sample that is not familiar with it so you can gain insights you might not otherwise have.

KEYWORDS: health care, multitouch, older adults, surface computing, user interface, human factors