Francesca Tosi

This paper presents a part of the project “XAll - Tutta un’altra guida” (XAll - A whole other guide), funded by the TIM Foundation, which partners the University of Florence, the Polytechnic University of Milan, and the referents of 3 Florentine museums: Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, Museo Bardini and Museo Bargello. The overall objective of the project is to create an interactive, customizable and inclusive visit support, aimed at the overall population and designed to encourage a multisensory visit experience, rea- lized by inserting tactile, sound and olfactory stimuli in the visit path of the 3 Museums involved and enhanced by the use of augmented reality. Specific objectives of the pro- ject are: to make cultural heritage accessible to visitors with all types of disability; to improve the quality of independent visitation in terms of engagement and customiza- tion of the experience; to encourage the dissemination of free applications in museum accessibility projects; and to provide an integrated framework and a set of open source tools for the development of applications in the same area.

Assistive robotics is making significant progress in a wide variety of areas and will play a key role in the coming years as part of strategies for Ageing in Place and Active and Healthy Aging. In an effort to design for acceptability of technology, it is essential to make effective interdisciplinary cooperation among all professionals involved in the development of robotic systems. The presented research is based on a general hypothesis: the HCD approach, if applied to the preliminary design phases of assistive robots, could lead to a deep understanding of needs, expectations and desires of people. An appropriate knowledge of the user, of the context in which the interaction takes place and of the activities to be performed, could increase the attitude and intention of people to use assistive robots. This process would be even more effective if the designer knew the variables of acceptance in the HRI field. On this basis, the tool “Robotics & Design: the tool to design Human-Centered Assistive Robotics,” was developed. This paper presents this tool and its main features.

The theme of inclusion is one of the key elements of the vision and mission of contemporary museums. The overall aim of this work is to develop and test a scientific and operational process for inclusive design within the context of free access to cultural heritage. This paper presents a critical analysis of the methodological approach and results of the research project “XAll – A Whole New Guide”, funded by the TIM Foundation, in partnership with the University of Florence, the Polytechnic University of Milan and three Florentine museums: the Palazzo Vecchio Museum, the Bardini Museum and the Bargello Museum. The project involved the creation of an interactive, customisable visitor guide integrated into the physical context of the visitor route.

It is well known to anyone who has had a direct or indirect hospital experience how the sterile and aseptic healthcare system often generates negative emotions such as anxiety, frustration, and pain. It is usually due to the exclusively functional aspect of medical equipment (MRI scans, ventilators, ultrasounds, etc.), which induces fear and perception of threat, neglecting the importance of formal and emotional aspects within the healthcare environment. In the last decade, the intervention of Design on hospital aesthetics, products, communication, and services has allowed a partial reduction of stress and anxiety levels, improving patient satisfaction and guaranteeing, at the same time, health and healing. However, the contribution of Design becomes even more decisive when it comes to pediatric patients, who need a hospital system that considers their needs, feelings and opinions. Therefore, the vision of the patient as a person with psycho-emotional and relational, as well as physical and functional requirements, led the designers to design equipment and spaces with a pleasant and familiar appearance, which would favour the reduction of the trauma of hospitalisation and negative emotions experienced by young patients. Although some design interventions present in the literature demonstrate great sensitivity towards the world of children, the contribution of Design in the hospital setting is still minimal. Based on the scientific contributions provided by various disciplines such as Affective sciences, Social and Cognitive Neurosciences, Cognitive Psychology and Design, this research addresses the issue of children's affectivity in the evaluation and Design of positive user experiences. It questions the possible areas of implementation and the evaluation strategies and tools of Human-Centered Design (HCD), User Experience (UX), Affective Evaluation Methods (AEM) of Psychology, Affective Sciences, and Cognitive Ergonomics that allow the measurement of emotions. Specifically, the study aims to understand the following:- how it is possible to evaluate the emotional impact generated by the health system on the child;- the emotional response of children in interaction with the health product-service system. In particular, the study's main focus was analysing the emotional impact generated by the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination before and after the examination simulation procedure with the Philips Kitten Scanner to understand the actual contribution.This research presents the results of a survey conducted within the diagnostic imaging department of the Meyer University Hospital in collaboration with the NOS ERGOMeyer group and the Ergonomics & Design laboratory of the University of Florence. The methodological approach of the research was quantitative and envisaged the application of Ergonomics for Design and Human-Centered Design methods. Specifically, the single-centre observational survey was conducted by structured interviews and questionnaires addressed to healthcare personnel and psychologists who work with children, especially in the hospital setting. From the survey, it was possible to grasp and define: the main behaviours and emotional factors linked to the hospital world, the primary emotional difficulties of the child linked both to the disease, but also to the context of care, the negative impact of medical instruments/equipment, the benefits and the criticalities related to the preparation of the MRI exam, but above all the importance of the game in minimising the negative emotions associated with medical procedures and the hospital system. Therefore, the survey highlighted many possibilities for implementing and developing design solutions to improve the young patient's emotional experience.

Nowadays, research and innovation in the pediatric field represent both a challenge and a great development opportunity. The emergence of clinical problems and the convergence of scientific knowledge and multidisciplinary approaches allows us to offer innovative solutions to improve pediatric care. In particular, the new digital technologies represent an important factor of innovation in the field of health care and, above all, in delicate and complex contexts such as Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU), where due to the vulnerability of young patients it is necessary to use of ever more straightforward and more efficient care tools.However, in the pediatric field and, above all, in Neonatology, cases of errors in healthcare are increasingly frequent; it is estimated that a child is three times more exposed than an adult to potentially harmful situations of Medication Error because the level of assistance required is higher and the equipment required is more complex. In particular, one of the most common causes of access to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is the respiratory difficulty which requires specific mechanical ventilation treatment, which can involve human errors and risks related to its use with possible physiological complications.Sometimes, human error can be attributed to the excessive complexity of using the products/services or the need for more materials suitable for the personnel needs. In the neonatal field, there are frequent problems related to usability, ergonomic characteristics, software and hardware interfaces, the human factor, and the context and methods of use of medical devices that lead to errors.The general objective of this study, conducted at the Meyer Children's Hospital in Florence, was to improve not only the condition of the well-being of the young patient but also the working conditions of the medical and healthcare staff, promoting interaction, simplifying the actions and minimizing the possibility of error in use.This paper reports the main results of the research achieved thanks to the application of the evaluation methods of usability and safety of use typical of Human-Centered Design. These have made it possible to pay attention to the needs of users who interact with the medical system (patients, health professionals) and the different skills of the professionals involved in designing and providing services.Through field surveys and discussions with experts and healthcare professionals (user observation, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, etc.) conducted at Meyer Children's Hospital in Florence, it was possible to collect data on current critical issues. In particular, the survey made it possible to understand how the user interacts with existing fans and how much these can lead to problems regarding the complexity of assembly, the difficulty of reading the physical and digital interface, the presence of numerous instruments during transport and the issues relating to the organization of the treatment phases.The analysis of the user and the evaluation of the criticality of the existing products/systems have therefore allowed the identification of possible scenarios and intervention solutions, defining the requirements of the new ventilation system. From the results obtained, it was possible to configure new solutions, which gave rise to the design of a new generation lung ventilator for NICU to improve ventilation assistance operations, reduce user errors and make the product versatile and easy to use both in the ward and during neonatal protected transport.