Thanatology and Human Factors

The chapter discusses the ergonomic and human factors issues surrounding life and death in terms of 21st century design. In this chapter, the authors describe how current limitations in technologies that are specifically designed to be lethal afford greater pain and suffering than necessary. As human factors is a science dedicated to improving the quality of life, it is necessary to critically examine the end-of-life domain, which is an area of research that has been largely neglected by ergonomic practitioners. By providing an overview of the current research in several area including euthanasia, remotely executed lethal operations, and fully autonomous military robots, the authors demonstrate the need to consider morality and ethics in the design process.

Who Wants an Automated Vehicle?

New advancements in vehicle automation, electrification, data connectivity, and digital methods of sharing—known collectively as New Mobility—are poised to revolutionize transportation as it is known today. Exactly what results this disruption will lead to, however, remains unknown, as indeed the technologies and their uses are still taking shape amidst myriad interests. The impacts of this shift to New Mobility could be enormous, shaping economies, cities, and the lives of people in them. It is therefore vitally important for public interests to play a strong role in the development and deployment of these technologies. With the current trajectory of these technologies warning of the potential for increased energy use, environmental costs, and social inequity, interests at the community level need to be included and influential as soon as possible.

Wearables and Workload

Prior research has reported that novelty affects the usage cycle of wearable devices. This chapter investigates the effects of sensation seeking, intensity, novelty, gender, and prior experience on the workload experienced during one aspect of using wearable fitness trackers, the device installation process. Contrary to the authors' hypotheses, prior experience, sensation seeking, intensity, and novelty did not significantly affect workload. The findings suggest that males tend to experience less workload during the setup of wearable fitness trackers; however, only for the Basis B1 and only for some aspects of workload. The claims made by prior research may be limited to specific aspects of the wearable fitness tracker use cycle, and more investigation is needed before broader claims can be made.

The Digital Divide and Usability

The digital divide refers to the differences between people who use technology on a regular basis (technology-enabled) and those who do not use technology regularly (technology-disabled). Van Dijk describes three mechanisms that affect the use of technological resources. These are social exclusion, exploitation, and control. In addition to these three mechanisms, the technology itself may exclude potential users through the application design process. The design method used most frequently relies on convenience sampling of current users. The choices that these technology familiar users make in testing lead development teams to interaction design decisions that may exclude novice users. Several theories of technology adoption are reviewed as well as past and potential ways to address the digital divide.

Digital Social Networking

Digital social networking (DSN) sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Instagram, Pinterest, among many others have garnered millions of users worldwide. It is an instance of information and communication technology that has brought about changes in the way people communicate, interact, and affected human lifestyle and psyche across the world. Some people have become addicted; some see this as beneficial, while others are skeptical about its consequences. This risk-benefit paradox of DSN flummoxes academicians and practitioners alike. This chapter discusses the social and organizational and business risks and benefits of DSN. It goes on to provide a timeline of the evolution of DSN sites, enumeration of typical characteristics of DSN sites, and a systematic comparison of offline and digital social networking. The chapter intends to serve as a cornerstone towards developing a framework for organizational strategy formulation for DSN.

Impact of Industry 4.0 Revolution on Science, Technology, and Society (STS)

The Industry 4.0 concept, which leads the Fourth Industrial Revolution, was introduced by Germany in 2011 at the Hannover Messe trade fair and attracted the attention of the world. Since that time, its effects have been seen in different fields, such as science, technology, and society. In this chapter, in order to investigate the effects of Industry 4.0 revolution, answers to the following questions will be presented: Are there any concerns about technological unemployment as a result of Industry 4.0. revolution? Which professions have emerged? How has Industry 4.0 affected society directly or indirectly? What are the technologies of this concept? How do these technologies affect manufacturing and service systems? What are the challenges of implementing the technologies of Industry 4.0? What are the benefits of digitalized manufacturing? Which studies are conducted to accelerate the shift of Industry 4.0 from science to reality? and Which studies have been conducted so far about this concept?

The Future of Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) in Shaping Intercultural Communication Competency

Although intercultural communication has long been a vital issue, accelerating globalization and immigration over the past century have increased its importance. Therefore, it is imperative that education and training in intercultural communication are created and continually evaluated for effectiveness. One operative new strategy is the use of digital game-based learning (DGBL) in intercultural communication training. This chapter aims at explaining—from theoretical and practical perspectives—the effectiveness of DGBL to enhance intercultural communication skills. The chapter expounds on the effectiveness of utilizing DGBL as a pedagogical tool in education and training. It then concludes with demonstrating the research results of using HERO I® as an example of the effectiveness of DGBL for cultural competency training. This interconnectedness between theory and practice projects the future of DGBL in shaping intercultural communication competency.

Blockchain

This chapter provides a conceptual understanding of blockchain, its purpose, and fundamental concepts before discussing two prominent blockchains, Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are, respectively, representative of the first and second generations of this technology. Some applications that are characteristic of the third generation are presented along with their potential and limitations. They also serve to substantiate some of the problems that are discussed later. Thus, the current developments that are addressing the most pressing current issues and the approaches to overcome them are discussed in the vision of the future of blockchain. What will be the fourth generation, with obligatory resolution or mitigation of many of these problems, which could lead to a widespread adoption of the technology in several other sectors, is described.

Design the Technological Society for an Aging Population

Inclusivity of design for an aging population will be one of the most critical problems to address in the near and far future. With advancing age comes new needs, goals, and unique issues – all of which may be ameliorated through well-designed systems and technologies. But what does it mean to be “well-designed”? In this chapter, the authors discuss the background research supporting design principles that take into account age-related changes in cognition, movement, and behavior. These are then applied in a worked example of a “car of the future,” partly constructed with current technologies, but also imagining near and far future advances. They conclude with a discussion of how to employ these principles in practice, both when designing new and cutting-edge technologies from the ground-up and revising systems and technologies already in place.

Sexting Behaviors Among Adolescents and Adults

Exchanging sexually explicit messages has become an increasingly common form of interaction for both adolescents and adults. Although sexting has been identified as a risk factor for a variety of negative outcomes, this research has generally been conducted without attention to the relationship context of the communicators. This chapter will examine the prevalence of sexting in the context of existing romantic relationships, and how sexting may relate to features of the relationship. The authors will review existing research examining motivations for sexting with romantic partners, pressure to engage in sexting, and associations between sexting and romantic attachment styles and relationship satisfaction. The chapter will conclude with discussion of important future directions for research.