Emerging technologies, e.g., cloud computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, and information technologies, facilitate digital transformation and promote digital services. Significant research exists on the acceptance and use of technologies and specific digital transformation (DT) practices. However, more research is needed to better understand user’s acceptance and how they use technology to better de-sign digital services. Thus, this paper: 1) proposes a Systematic Literature Re-view (SLR) of the models of acceptance and use of technologies, as well as of certain DT practices applied to the human-computer interaction (HCI) of digital services; 2) provides an analysis of the results of the behavior of the factors and practices; and 3) proposes a taxonomy of the acceptance and use factors applied to HCI of digital services by economic activity. The main contribution of this work is the proposed taxonomy in a vacancy area relevant to digital transformation efforts applied to digital services pursued globally, both in the private and public sectors.

Today, users of digital services demand sophisticated quality attributes to decide for their adoption. Thus, knowing which factors influence the acceptance and use of technologies for the adoption of digital services is most relevant for planning and designing such services. Despite the existence of a variety of research on techniques and models of acceptance and use, little research exists for understanding the behavior of these factors by economic activity, and users’ demographic attributes, like gender, age, educational level, and location, in the context of digital services in Ecuador. Aiming at filling this research gap, this article presents; 1) a selective state-of-the-art review on the proposed topic: 2) based on case study methodology complemented with survey research method, an analysis of the results obtained from the behavior of the factors of acceptance and use of digital services by the units of analysis in Ecuador; and 3) a characterization of the variable behavior of the factors of acceptance and use of digital services in general and by unit of analysis. The main contribution of our research is that the obtained results provide insights and knowledge about factors required for users to accept, use and adopt digital services in Ecuador.

: Several proposals on active aging have been addressed within the psychological field, conceptualizing it satisfactorily as a perspective of aging. Those proposals generate indicators that assess the level of physical health, psychological wellbeing, adequate social adaptation. Physical, cognitive, and functional faculties, interpersonal relationships, and productive activities have been evaluated. Although several technological approaches have been proposed to promote active aging, they have not included a deep understanding of the results obtained from solution implementations. Then, this paper presents the first step towards an approach that uses variables proposed by active aging models (e.g., health, cognition, activity, affection, fitness aspects) to generate knowledge through patterns. These patterns are identified using data obtained through several instruments (i.e., psychological evaluations, health studies, and human experts' contributions). Thus, selecting those variables and evaluating them as future models is necessary. Domain experts perform this evaluation. The evaluation of this proposal has been completed with participants belonging to the health area through a case study. This evaluation generates input data for engineers to apply data mining techniques to reveal strategic knowledge. Finally, from the psychologist's point of view, the results showed that the contribution results are appropriate for achieving healthy aging indicators.

Serious Games (SG) are designed to teach, train, or promote behavior change while entertaining players. They are increasingly popular because they provide significant health benefits, while improving the cognitive functions. Similarly, to other software tools, these solutions need to assess their quality, to be later improved. However, there are not contributions that allow the quality evaluation specifically related to the usability and portability characteristics. Therefore, this paper presents, first, an evaluation method aligned to the ISO/IEC 25040 standard, its activities, and artifacts which will be used for the serious game's quality evaluation. This method ' s name is Serious Game Quality Assessment Method (SG-QUAM).. Second, it provides a usability and portability model aligned to the ISO/IEC 25010 standard and oriented to this specific domain (i.e., serious digital games), and lastly, the quality in use while players are using the application. Moreover, 16 software engineers evaluated the solution through an experiment; the results showed good insights oriented to improve the contributions and concluded that SG-QUAM is perceived as easy to use, useful and that could be used in the future.

The devices are crucial elements in the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The correct selection of these elements influences the quality, cost, and adequate addressing of the application depending on the needs in each of the IoT verticals. In this sense, the need for methodologies for selecting IoT devices is an exciting field to explore in research. Therefore, this paper presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) based on the Kitchenham and Charters methodology, as the first step for designing a methodology for the selection and acquisition of IoT devices oriented to older people. The presented SLR describes the existing methods, technical criteria, context criteria (e.g., contracts, government restrictions), and other elements considered for selecting IoT devices from 2010 to 2021 year; this from the review in digital libraries, conferences, and journals. Sixteen articles were found following the methodology of systematics review. The obtained results are made up of studies for the selection of IoT devices, or criteria for the selection of technology related to IoT, such as IoT services, IoT platforms, sensors for IoT devices, among others. Most of the found studies are not directed to a specific domain, except for a few directed to people in general or companies. Overall, the study evidences a gap in the selection methodologies for IoT devices in applications-oriented to the elderly and the presence of some context-related selection methods.

To address problems related to people’s memory, several techniques have been developed; one of them consists of cognitive training that seeks to maintain and improve the brain’s essential executive functions. Today this technique has made use of software applications to provide such training. One way to support these applications’ development is through Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs), which has reduced focus but produces an efficient solution. However, the applications’ growth and complexity have generated systematic and specific approaches to evaluating the products developed. This study proposes to assess DSLs aimed at creating interactions for cognitive training. A quality model based on the ISO 25010 standard is presented with an evaluation method that references the ISO 25040 standard. The quality model focuses on Functional Suitability, while the evaluation method focuses on the Running the Assessment phase. The inputs generated were tested in an experimental environment. The results show that an effective, efficient, and satisfactory evaluation of DSLs within the domain can be developed from the generated quality and evaluation methods.

Nowadays, older adults need to actively participate in society's processes and activities without being isolated, abandoned, discriminated against, or placed in a vulnerable situation. The COVID-19 pandemic shows a gradual increase in risk with age, which has led to confinement for this population sector. With these considerations, it is advisable to educate older adults on the general measures to prevent COVID-19, to adapt to today's society and decrease the likelihood of contagion. In this sense, a learning artifact about COVID-19 prevention measures, through a methodology for creating learning capsules for older adults designed to educate from home through mobile devices. Moreover, for evaluating the perceptions of the users about the proposed learning artifact, a case study where older people participated was proposed; here, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used.

Education is a universal process that acts on human beings throughout their existence, including their aging stage. In this sense, older adults can learn, communicate, and exchange information through technological applications. However, learning platforms often do not address the specific requirements and special needs of older people. Therefore, it is necessary to have methods and tools that allow the creation of software artifacts, so this sector of the population can acquire new knowledge according to its learning needs. Given these considerations, this document proposes a method for creating learning capsules in the field of microlearning, taking into account accessibility criteria and andragogic techniques that support the learning process of the older adult; it also considers a diffusion plan for apprentices to know and access structured micro-contents. Besides, to show this proposal's use, the step-by-step of creating a learning capsule to be used by older adults

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that is affecting worldwide, the educational centers have been forced to change its regular classroom classes approach towards a virtual environment. This change has brought challenges and difficulties for teachers and students since this is a learning style that has not been used before for most of them. The area of Mathematics is a clear example of these challenges, since it is usually considered one of the most challenging subjects, and one that conventionally requires a classroom environment to be taught appropriately and pedagogically. Therefore, it is important to create a methodology for implementing virtual classes in Mathematics and also, search for tools to improve and enhance the learning process, while making it adaptable for the continuously changing learning environments. The proposed methodology is based on the study of pedagogical techniques, different Learning Management Systems (LMS), and online resources involved with the virtual teaching of Mathematics. To develop it, the Analysis Design Development Implementation Evaluation (ADDIE) method has been applied, while the illustration has been made using the Software Process Engineering Metamodel (SPEM), which allows developers and group members to adopt processes in a common language. This methodology was evaluated through a study case where a group of Mathematics university instructors were asked to apply the methodology in a class, while, another group was asked to impart a virtual class without it. Then, a questionnaire about their perceptions and expectations was applied to the students; and to the instructors about perceptions. Finally, after comparing the results it was concluded that Math-odology is highly applicable to adapt a mathematics class to a virtual environment. Also, it is necessary to link each activity with the right tools that contribute positively to the teaching-learning process.

El análisis de datos y la generación de modelos mediante aprendizaje automático (Machine Learning - ML por sus siglas en inglés) es una de las técnicas más usadas por la comunidad científica para obtener conocimiento que no se puede interpretar o analizar a simple vista. En este documento, se aborda el tema específico de la obtención, procesamiento de datos y modelado de los mismos mediante técnicas de agrupamiento, concretamente el algoritmo de K-Means. Los datos se obtienen a través de una herramienta de interfaz cerebro computador (ICC - BCI por sus siglas en inglés) basada en electroencefalograma (EEG), mientras un sujeto de prueba realiza una tarea de tipo Stroop, la cual permite a los psicólogos evaluar el control inhibitorio de las personas. La aplicación de este tipo de algritmo en esta área especifica, busca poder identificar patrones dentro de las señales EEG relacionados al estado del sujeto. La captura de datos se ejecuta en tres diferentes horas del día, matutina , vespertina, y nocturna, durante dos días consecutivos, con el objetivo de obtener variabilidad en los datos. Si bien la muestra de datos es pequeña, se puede emplear como punto de partida para el análisis del algoritmo K-means en señales EEG durante la ejecución del test Stroop. Los resultados se muestran tanto desde el punto de vista técnico como psicológico, y se puede ver en la clusterización realizada con las señales en el dominio del tiempo, que existe un patrón de agrupación según la hora del día en la que se realiza el test. Por otra parte, para la clusterización con las señales en el dominio de la frecuencia este patrón no resulta tan evidente. Desde la perspectiva psicológica, se comprueba que el proceso de aprendizaje y de acomodación al momento de realizar una prueba psicológica, disminuye su potencial.

Technological Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems (AACS) based on pictograms are used concurrently today. They are expressed differently from oral language and compensate for communication difficulties with some verbal language limitations. Due to the specific requirements by people with special abilities, those systems must guarantee satisfaction, efficiency, and effectiveness during the users’ communication. Also, the usability of those applications must demonstrate high usability characteristics. In this context, this paper presents an AACSS usability model, which can be used to evaluate pictographic systems oriented to people with disabilities. This contribution is based on a quality approach to assessing the quality of this kind of software product. The model is aligned with the ISO/IEC 25010 standard, which defines a set of main usability characteristics. Additionally, the ISO 14915-1 standard was considered, which addresses user interfaces for applications that incorporate text and interactive multimedia. Likewise, the ISO 9241-210 standard was used, which proposes characteristics, sub-characteristics, and metrics through design guides of Human-Computer Interfaces for interactive systems. The standards above allow the establishment of characteristics, sub-characteristics, attributes, and metrics of AACSs to quantify each attribute and identify any usability problems that may exist. Also, it is presented an evaluation method that uses the given usability model. Finally, an experiment that applies the proposed solution is carried out in which users have evaluated two pictographic AACSS mobile applications.

The world's population is aging, which is reflected in the increased proportion of older adults, both in developed and developing countries. In 2019, 1 in 11 people exceeded 65 years old; and it is projected that by 2050, this proportion will be 1 in 6 people. Among the most common problems older adults face are those linked to physical, auditory, and visual impairment and, affect, the way they communicate and interact with others. While the usual way of communication is through speech, 1.3% do not depend on verbal language, and as a result, their communication needs are not met. Therefore, it is necessary to search for other modes of communication (apart from speech), which are used to express thoughts, needs, desires, and ideas. An option is Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), which presents methods and technology to help people develop or regain communication ability. Thus, this document presents a method called UIAAC, which aims to facilitate the design of graphical user interfaces for AAC systems oriented to older adults and incorporate pictograms as a means of communication. The presented method is aligned with usability standards and considerations of experts in AAC, gerontology, software quality engineers, and user-centered design. To assess the feasibility of the method, the design of a prototype interface and a case study that assesses the perception of the prototype's use is presented. The evaluation was developed from the point of view of the psychological area and the end-user (older adult).

Over the years, cognitive deterioration appears, which is even more evident as age increases; therefore, it requires attention and treatment. Among the older adults' primary needs are learning and entertainment. These needs promote older people, caregivers, and health personnel to seek technological solutions that help during their free time while training the executive functions in the home or gerontological centers. Hence, serious games can teach without neglecting entertainment and fun. Thus, it is necessary to develop techniques, methods, tools, or standards for creating serious games by following a process that considers all the needs and specific characteristics of older adults. Hence, this paper presents a method named ADE2 that aims to facilitate the development of serious games for older adults aligned to usability standards, human-computer interaction (HCI) techniques, and healthcare and software engineering experts' considerations. Evaluating the feasibility of the method has been presented the construction of a serious game and a case study that evaluates the game's use perception. The evaluation was developed from the point of view of the psychological area and the enduser (older adult).

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a revolutionary technology.It allows hundreds of devices to connect and collect information, send and receive data over the internet, and other activities.The IoT has been applied in various fields; one of them is to support people with disabilities.The interconnection of devices has allowed people to develop activities autonomously, improving their quality of life.Although it is an emerging technology and there are several secondary studies about the collection of evidence on IoT devices, very few are applied to people with disabilities.Based on the systematic review results, taxonomies related to the addressed topic determine research gaps for scientific progress and non-duplication of existing solutions.Thus, this article present the planning stage of a future study presenting IoT solutions applied to people with disabilities, aiming to answer the following research question: What Internet of Things solutions exist for people with disabilities?The results are presented, and the discussion describes the principal features of the IoT solutions oriented to people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

It is essential to determine the alert level in a command-and-control center when someone calls an operator for an emergency since life may be in danger. The alert level is determined based on the evaluation that the operator can perceive during the call. Sometimes, cases can be similar to those previously attended. Therefore, it is helpful that this knowledge can be rescued and applied to new cases. In this context, the Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) technique can determine the alert level and find the most representative words in each case. Thus, when a new alarm is triggered, the system can recommend the alert level with which it is rated. Consequently, a solution based on previous knowledge has been stated. This solution leads to the following methodological process: i) data preprocessing, ii) topic analysis and iii) classification. When this proposal was applied, the results revealed an accuracy greater than 60% in predicting the type of alert based on the text.

Internet of Things (IoT) applications nowadays generate a large amount of data, which are continually requiring adequate treatment and services on the Cloud to be available to stakeholders. Healthcare applications manage critical data from different sources as patient charts, Electronic Health Record (EHR), and devices which need security levels, data formatting, and quality of data due to their importance and sensitivity. Data as a Service (DaaS) is a data management framework provided though services on Cloud to bring data storage, integration, processing, analysis services, security, availability, elasticity, and quality characteristics to the data concerning the stakeholders. In this context, this paper proposes a data management solution deployed as DaaS for the healthcare domain presented through a metamodel focused on the federation pattern of data based on an Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) model for data classification; and considering a brief analysis of the non-functional characteristics proper of the DaaS domain as the security, confidentiality, priority, and availability. The metamodel is validated through an instantiation process using the MOntreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) test as the entry. Finally, it is presented a discussion from four stakeholder perspectives (e.g., data engineer, IoT solution developer, data quality analyst, health professional) about the solution.

Internet of Things (IoT) has been growing exponentially in the commercial market in recent years. It is also a fact that people hold one or more computing devices at home. Many of them have been developed to operate through internet connectivity with cloud computing technologies that result in the demand for fast, robust, and secure services. In most cases, the lack of these services makes difficult the transfer of data to fulfill the devices' purposes. Under these conditions, an intermediate layer or middleware is needed to process, filter, and send data through a more efficient alternative. This paper presents the adaptive solution of a middleware architecture as an intermediate layer between smart devices and cloud computing to enhance the management of the heterogeneity of data provining from IoT devices. The proposed middleware provides easy configuration, adaptability, and bearability for different environments. Finally, this solution has been implemented in the healthcare domain, in which IoT solutions are deployed into Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) environments.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems (AACs) is an important study area for people who need alternative ways to communicate their ideas. An AAC web system based on pictograms for the elderly VitaApp is presented in this paper. The system results from the implementation of the last phase of theUIAAC method, which guides the design and implementation ofAAC systems aimed at older adults. VitaApp is based on a client-server architecture, divided into three roles: a) administrator, carer: these oversee customizing the interface and have dedicated web applications; b) elderly: they use the AAC application that their caregiver personalizes for them. The graphical interface of the AAC application is evaluated through a case study that was applied to an older adult, his caregiver, and a clinical psychologist; in this, the ease of use, usefulness, and future use of the web application were evaluated. The results show that its users perceive VitaApp as an alternative communication support tool, useful, easy to use, and considered to be used in the future.

Nowadays, technology is supporting professionals in all knowledge areas. Psychology is not the exception; in this context, a lot of tests are applied to patients as part of a psychologist’s professional exercise. Traditionally, those activities have been performed manually; however, with the creation of devices that assist people and allows connectivity, repetitive tasks, and bias have been solved. This paper presents the architecture and construction process of a Stroop solution. It includes several technological devices such as eye trackers and boards with visual signals that support health personnel in applying the Stroop task. Also, the functional evaluation of these tools has been performed to assess the correct functioning of this technological creation. A method that includes each stakeholder has been developed to provide all users the best characteristics and accessibility options for comfortable use and application of the Stroop task. The results of this device have motivated researchers to continue creating this kind of tool, due to its interdisciplinarity and applicability of the solutions. This kind of device supports health personnel and Psychologists; however, it needs to be included in every characteristic carefully discussed with the real users. Therefore, the inclusion of experts of the domain in this study allows developers to improve the solution and brings practical support for users of the created device (i.e., test appliers, patients).