Augmented humanity (AH) is a term that has been mentioned in several research papers. However, these papers differ in their definitions of AH. The number of publications dealing with the topic of AH is represented by a growing number of publications that increase over time, being high impact factor scientific contributions. However, this terminology is used without being formally defined. The aim of this paper is to carry out a systematic mapping review of the different existing definitions of AH and its possible application areas. Publications from 2009 to 2020 were searched in Scopus, IEEE and ACM databases, using search terms “augmented human”, ”human augmentation” and “human 2.0”. Of the 16,914 initially obtained publications, a final number of 133 was finally selected. The mapping results show a growing focus on works based on AH, with computer vision being the index term with the highest number of published articles. Other index terms are wearable computing, augmented reality, human–robot interaction, smart devices and mixed reality. In the different domains where AH is present, there are works in computer science, engineering, robotics, automation and control systems and telecommunications. This review demonstrates that it is necessary to formalize the definition of AH and also the areas of work with greater openness to the use of such concept. This is why the following definition is proposed: “Augmented humanity is a human–computer integration technology that proposes to improve capacity and productivity by changing or increasing the normal ranges of human function through the restoration or extension of human physical, intellectual and social capabilities”.
The development of mobile apps during the last decade has had a significant increase in its share of the software market. While there are specific characteristics that separate it from traditional software development, there is a lack of guidance on issues encountered during the mobile software development process. With the aim of defining a mobile application development framework that considers the specific characteristics of developing mobile apps, we started by carrying out a systematic mapping study of the software development process for mobile applications, then we administered a survey and completed a qualitative study with industry experts. These studies allowed us to identify the main trends in the software process for mobile apps, and to uncover the main challenges for app development. We have organized the findings in a framework that integrates the specific challenges of mobile development, which we call Mobile Ilities, with software development activities that are linked through an agile process. The results of early tests carried out with computer science students are encouraging. Our proposal has served as a guide for novice developers throughout the process of creating a final product, combining the existing knowledge of developers about Scrum with the specific characteristics of mobile development, and providing mechanisms to link these characteristics with the elements of the development process.
This article presents a pilot study of the use of two new tangible interfaces and virtual worlds for teaching geometry in a secondary school. The first tangible device allows the user to control a virtual object in six degrees of freedom. The second tangible device is used to modify virtual objects, changing attributes such as position, size, rotation and color. A pilot study on using these devices was carried out at the “Florida Secundaria” high school. A virtual world was built where students used the tangible interfaces to manipulate geometrical figures in order to learn different geometrical concepts. The pilot experiment results suggest that the use of tangible interfaces and virtual worlds allowed a more meaningful learning (concepts learnt were more durable).
The world population is aging, all countries are experiencing an increase of elder population. The pace of aging population in many developing countries is substantially faster than in the past. Consequently, these countries must adapt much more rapidly to this aging. Therapy and Physical activity helps to improve health and well-being in the elders, for it brings longevity and improves quality of life. Sport and physical activity have been used as a tool to improve life. The technology has been used to promote entertainment and sport through digital games with wireless technology. Wii games had a positive impact on the overall well-being of the elderly, compared to a control group that played traditional board games. Our proposal combines both, virtual reality and body area network for generate a fun application that allows the elderly to control a Unnamed aerial vehicle (UAV) in a completely virtual environment using only the movement of his arms.
Anxiety in university students can lead to poor academic performance and even dropout. The Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale (AMAS-C) is a validated measure designed to assess the level and nature of anxiety in college students. The aim of this study is to provide internet-based alternatives to the AMAS-C in the automated identification and prediction of anxiety in young university students. Two anxiety prediction methods, one based on facial emotion recognition and the other on text emotion recognition, are described and validated using the AMAS-C Test Anxiety, Lie and Total Anxiety scales as ground truth data. The first method analyses facial expressions, identifying the six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise) and the neutral expression, while the students complete a technical skills test. The second method examines emotions in posts classified as positive, negative and neutral in the students' profile on the social network Facebook. Both approaches aim to predict the presence of anxiety. Both methods achieved a high level of precision in predicting anxiety and proved to be effective in identifying anxiety disorders in relation to the AMAS-C validation tool. Text analysis-based prediction showed a slight advantage in terms of precision (86.84 %) in predicting anxiety compared to face analysis-based prediction (84.21 %). The applications developed can help educators, psychologists or relevant institutions to identify at an early stage those students who are likely to fail academically at university due to an anxiety disorder.