Tag: usability

How Artificial Intelligence Helps Us Stay Young

As part of the Deutschlandfunk series “Understanding AI”, I had the pleasure of speaking with Carina Schroeder about our current project Alfred. We are testing the independent use of Altertainment‘s voice-based AI chatbot with residents of the Wohnen am Singenberg retirement home. The project is funded by an Innosuisse innovation cheque.

In the podcast episode “AI for Seniors” (starting at minute 15:55), I share insights from our research at the Institute for Ageing Research IAF, including:
🔹 the unique challenges of developing AI for older adults,
🔹 technological barriers in care and retirement homes,
🔹 and first impressions from our real-world testing of the AI companion Alfred.

💡 It was an inspiring conversation about how AI can support active and independent living in later life.

🎧 The episode is now available (in German) on Deutschlandfunk, ARD Audiothek, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music:

Master Thesis on “E-Learning 60+”

My Master’s thesis on “E-Learning 60+” investigated the needs of seniors in online learning and implemented a course that is age-appropriate and accessible. I recruited almost 50 seniors to participate in my experiment which compared two versions of an e-learning course that was originally used for undergraduate students at the University Zurich. The original version was compared to the version with an adapted and accessible design for seniors.

Qualitative and quantitative data was collected with surveys and interviews. Feedback from participants using the original design was integrated in the adapted version along with accessibility and usability standards.

The successful feedback from the participants served as a catalyst for the expansion of the e-learning offerings for seniors on wise-learn.com.