Telmo Silva

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Aveiro

This paper investigates the essential tasks for Embodied Conversational Agents (ECA) to engage Older Adults in hypertension treatment effectively. The research addresses the growing need for innovative solutions to support aging populations and explores the potential of ECA to provide cognitive, emotional, and practical support. The central researc...

This paper identifies recommendations for Embodied Conversational Agents (ECA) in Healthcare applications. The methodology employed consists of two systematic literature reviews in the fields of conversational systems and health care. Twenty-six recommendations for ECA were categorized into four groups: CS Interface, ECA Functionalities, Agent Beha...

This study describes the process of designing and developing the user interface of a digital solution aiming to promote physical and cognitive training (DanceMove) and testing for its usability by community-dwelling older adults. This study is subdivided into four phases: (i) concept and ideation, (ii) design and development of the prototype, (iii)...

Background Digital solutions, such as mobile apps or telemonitoring devices, are frequently considered facilitators in the process of empowering older adults, but they can also act as a source of digital exclusion or disempowerment if they are not adequate for older adults’ needs and characteristics. Objective This study aimed to synthesize and cr...

2025). Prevención de caídas mediante March TV en el hogar: un estudio de caso con personas mayores independientes. Retos, 63, 590-597. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v63.111 179 Resumen Introducción: La pérdida de la fuerza y la movilidad en los adultos mayores se relaciona a una mayor probabilidad de presentar riesgo de caídas, con un posible incr...

Introducción: La pérdida de la fuerza y la movilidad en los adultos mayores se relaciona a una mayor probabilidad de presentar riesgo de caídas, con un posible incremento en la morbi-mortalidad. El objetivo de la investigación fue utilizar una herramienta de rehabilitación diseñada para adultos mayores que brinda un protocolo de ejercicios de flexi...

Background As the population ages, innovative responses are urgently needed to promote physical activity at scale. Thus, this study investigated whether a step-based activity mediated by a digital solution impacts the physical functioning of community-dwelling older adults. The secondary aims were to assess whether the same activity impacts cogniti...

The growth of social media and user-targeted information reinforces the need to check sources to prevent the dissemination of unreliable content. In this context, an innovative solution is presented based on the established proliferation of push notifications and the potential identified in the TV ecosystem, since it connects multiple devices and p...

BACKGROUND Digital solutions such as mobile applications or telemonitoring devices are frequently pointed out as a facilitator in the process of empowering older adults, but they can also act as a source of digital exclusion and/or disempowerment if they are not adequate for older adults’ needs and characteristics. OBJECTIVE To synthesize and crit...

In the context of the proliferation of push notifications on several devices, a mechanism of personalized notifications is proposed to the TV ecosystem to assess its potential. After identifying relevant use scenarios through a literature review, with validation through focus groups, a field trial was carried out to test a solution in partnership w...

Digital exclusion is part of the list of reasons that amplify older adults’ social isolation and loneliness. Since they are not digital natives, like the newer generations, frequently these individuals do not have the same easiness to exchange messages or use other tools to connect them with other people. In this sense, the present work aims to ide...

A transição digital abre uma oportunidade para enriquecer o envolvimento e a experiência dos estudantes na criação de conteúdo relevante para a sociedade. Neste contexto, a plataforma TRUE foi desenvolvida para preencher uma lacuna em ferramentas de apoio à criação de jornais escolares digitais que potenciam as competências dos estudantes ao nível...

Conversational Systems can be used as an assistive technology to play an important role for the well-being of senior audiences. The use of Embodied Conversational Assistants (ECA), physical or virtual, has been used in CS to make interaction closer to reality. The objective of this paper is to identify recommendations for design and evaluation of t...

With the evolution of media and the internet in general in the last few years, we see an increase in accessibility and ease of use of many platforms, services, social media, and other communication/media outlets. Even though a lot of what is being created and improved has many benefits to society, it also comes with negative aspects for many users...

Young people's media consumption has changed with the integration of information and communication technologies. The most recurrent media for consulting the information is no longer the traditional newspapers but the online platforms, such as social networking services and websites. In this way, it is crucial to be wary about the content and source...

Notifications are frequently used in mobile devices and smart environments as a mechanism to deliver personalized messages. However, in the context of the TV ecosystem, notifications are not yet widely used. Hence, this research aims to explore the potential of that context to disseminate important information, recommend content and encourage inter...

Television is among the preferred technological devices of the elderly due to their familiarity with its simple interface and because it acts as a sort of companion, being this especially relevant for those living alone. This phenomenon was particularly observed during the social isolation resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. In the most critical...

Population ageing has become a general issue due to technological and scientific progress that has increased citizens’ life expectancy. Because of this, it is essential to develop strategies to promote senior people’s physical and mental well-being. Local events (such as popular festivals in the residential area and other types of gatherings), whic...

The performance of the natural language understanding (NLU) module is a key issue when developing a natural language interaction (NLI) system. For the NLU to perform in an accurate way, it must be trained to correctly understand a wide scope of users’ intentions and give (correct) answers. The interaction context must also be considered, meaning th...

BACKGROUND Terminology and studies on usability lack common terminology and reporting standards. OBJECTIVE To generate consensus on terms and procedures that should be considered when planning and reporting a study on usability evaluation of health-related digital solutions both by users and experts. METHODS A Delphi study with two rounds was con...

Background: Usability evaluation both by experts and target users is an integral part of the process of developing and assessing digital solutions. Usability evaluation improves the probability of having digital solutions that are easier, safer, more efficient, and more pleasant to use. However, despite the widespread recognition of the importance...

The COVID-19 pandemic of the last two years has affected the lives of many individuals, especially the most vulnerable and at-risk population groups, e.g., older adults. While social distancing and isolation are shown to be effective at decreasing the transmission of the virus, these actions have also increased loneliness and social isolation. To c...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to depict the field trial to evaluate the usability and usefulness of an Interactive TV platform that aims to promote the info-inclusion and quality of life of Portuguese older adults by delivering informative content about public and social services. Design/methodology/approach The present paper reports the pr...

BACKGROUND For the development of digital solutions different aspects of user interface design must be taken into consideration. Different technologies and interaction paradigms, user characteristics and needs, and interface design components are some of the aspects that designers and developers should pay attention to when designing a solution. A...

Background For the development of digital solutions, different aspects of user interface design must be taken into consideration. Different technologies, interaction paradigms, user characteristics and needs, and interface design components are some of the aspects that designers and developers should pay attention to when designing a solution. Many...

La línea de investigación y desarrollo presentada consiste en estudiar, desarrollar y evaluar aplicaciones de Televisión Digital Interactiva (TVDi) y tecnologías complementarias para el mejoramiento de los pueblos latinoamericanos. Uno de los principales objetivos es la formación de recursos humanos y fortalecimiento de la investigación mediante el...

The user experience can be evaluated in different ways, from a combination of approaches and techniques capable of collecting insights about a particular product or system. In the TV ecosystem research field, verifying how users react to new features is an essential step to the integration of functionalities able to enhance the user experience. Thi...

The introduction of technology in daily life activities has facilitated routines, some of them related to the quality of life of elderly, who are commonly considered as an independent population. The present project aims to develop an interactive application for television with content related to exercises to enhance gait function of elderly. This...

The remote control is a device normally used in conjunction with the TV-set, being this the preferred via of interaction. However, users like older adults frequently have difficulties using this device, due to the decrease in fine motor skills such as coordination of movements, grabbing objects, and also to memory and visual impairments. In this co...

Este artigo apresenta estudos, correntes teóricas e autores que fazem parte do atual estado da arte referente à comunicação/relações públicas e plataformas digitais. Em uma revisão sistemática, usando a metodologia Prisma, efetua o levantamento de artigos acadêmicos, publicados no período de 2015 a 2020, oriundos de dois bancos de dados: Web of Sci...

A evolução tecnológica tem vindo a originar novos paradigmas de interação entre o ser humano e os artefactos tecnológicos disponíveis. A televisão (TV), é um claro exemplo desta transformação, um meio que primordialmente era de utilização passiva, transformou-se num meio altamente interativo que permite, para além da típica visualização de conteúdo...

Background: The assessment of usability is a complex process that involves several steps and procedures. It is important to standardize the evaluation and reporting of usability procedures across studies to guide researchers, facilitate comparisons across studies and promote high-quality usability studies A first step to standardizing is to have an...

This work presents a systematic review, from 2012 to the beginning of 2019, of experiences carried out with people over 65 years old, using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with the aim of improving their self-care and health care empowerment for active aging. Most of the analyzed studies are focused on monitoring and assistance of...

Commonly, users’ attention is divided between multiple devices like the consumption of television content and the use of another device, such as smartphones. In this case, users tend to use mobile phones while ads are being advertised. The Smartly project aims to explore the potential o using multiple screens to enhance the TV experience by allowin...

TV is one of the most popular media in people’s homes around the world. Its rapid technological evolution has led to what we today call interactive TV (iTV), a concept that extends the possibilities of its use. Despite iTV’s applications to provide great advances in the interaction with the audience, most of its features are still accessible just t...

Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) are increasingly present in people’s daily lives, with natural language interaction allowed by voice assistants improving the user experience. In the television ecosystem, the integration of voice assistants is also enabling the interaction with media devices in a globally more satisfying way. Additionally, th...

BACKGROUND The assessment of usability is a complex process that involves several steps and procedures. It is important to standardize the evaluation and reporting of usability procedures across studies to guide researchers, facilitate comparisons across studies and promote high-quality usability studies A first step to standardizing is to have an...

Technological advances are contributing to higher levels of quality of life in developed countries, as new solutions emerge at an increasing speed, quantity, and quality to answer the population’s lifestyle needs and desires. Seniors nowadays constitute a significant portion of the world population and thus, concerns in answer to their needs are be...

Nowadays technological developments give rise to the creation of increasingly improved digital devices that end up being present in countless contexts. In this sense, the integration of personal assistants (PAs) in devices such as the smartphone, proves to be one of these important developments. Alongside these new developments, technological devic...

Resumen. Este trabajo presenta una revisión sistemática desde 2012 hasta principios del año 2019, de experiencias realizadas con personas de 65 años o más, empleando las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (TIC) con el objetivo de mejorar su auto-asistencia y empoderamiento para el cuidado de su salud para un envejecimiento activo. Se indaga...

The actual video consumption behaviors are blurring the traditional boundaries between linear and non-linear viewing, leveraged by On-demand and Over-the-Top (OTT) content offers. The Managed-Operated Networks (MON) adapted to this shift by providing flexibility to content access via Catch-up and Time-shift TV services. In addition, manufacturers o...

Despite the increasing number of solutions that come up every day with real usefulness to support the elderly, older people need to feel that the product is a real asset, often requiring more time to adopt solutions. The usage and satisfaction levels are highly influenced by the concern that development and design teams need to have by taking targe...

One of the most common electronic devices available in homes around the world is the TV. Its high utilization rate in domestic environments opens a series of possibilities to meet the most varied needs of its viewers. In this context, projects developed for specific audiences can take advantage of the opportunities offered by TV. +TV4E is a solutio...

The increase of longevity is one of the most important advances in modern societies. However, as people get older there are multiple changes that occur at physiological, social and psychological levels. On the one hand, aging can generate more opportunities to have free time to consume products or services that are informative or playful. On the ot...

Desde el año 2012 diversas universidades iberoamericanas conforman la Red de Aplicaciones y Usabilidad de la Televisión Digital Interactiva (RedAUTI) coordinada por la UNLP. La línea de investigación y desarrollo presentada consiste en estudiar, desarrollar y evaluar aplicaciones de Televisión Digital Interactiva (TVDi) y tecnologías complementaria...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a process to evaluate the usability and usefulness of a high-fidelity prototype of the +TV4E platform (removed for blind review), an iTV service which aims to promote the info-inclusion and quality of life of Portuguese seniors by delivering informative contents about public and social services. Desi...

The UltraTV project proposes a User Interface for the unification of content from different sources, combining TV programs and Over-the-top (OTT) videos, fostering the discovery at the same level. In this demo, the UltraTV high-fidelity prototype, implemented in a set-top box, is presented, along with its unification, recommendation and profiling f...

Testing the usability level of technologies is a basilar step to achieve solutions with real importance to its end users. This is even more important when solutions targeted to a public with special needs and specific desires, such as the older population, are under development. This paper reports a study assessing the evolution of usability and us...

In the context of an ageing population, providing relevant information to support seniors’ daily activities plays an important role to promote these citizens’ quality of life. This study is part of the +TV4E project, which aims to develop an Interactive Television (iTV) platform to transmit personalized information regarding Services of General Int...

The adoption rate of technologies by older adults is dependent on several factors, such as the identified potential benefits in the users’ perspective. In the scope of +TV4E project, which aims to deliver informative videos regarding public and social services to older people through an interactive television (iTV) platform, this study defines a pr...

One of the key components of the design and development process of a User Interface (UI) is the User Experience (UX) assessment. It guarantees that the product meets the users’ needs and provides the best interaction, while achieving usability goals and emotional reactions of motivation, arousal and dominance. In this scope, this paper describes th...

A inversão da pirâmide etária é, atualmente, um fenómeno global que potencia o aparecimento de novos desafios sociais. Assim e considerando as dificuldades no acesso a informação sobre serviços públicos e sociais por parte dos cidadãos de faixas etárias mais avançadas, neste artigo apresenta-se um projeto académico que visa promover a info-inclusão...

Technologies play an important role to promote higher levels of quality of life and independency of senior citizens. Given the popularity of tele- vision among seniors, in the scope of +TV4E project an Interactive TV (iTV) platform is being developed to provide these citizens with personalized infor- mation about public and social services from whi...

The challenges and opportunities that arise with the increase of older populations are drawing the attention of several sectors of society, as is the case of the technological segment. The development of technical solutions to improve seniors’ quality of life and promote their autonomous living is commonly found in the roadmap of research teams and...

The growing popularity of mobile connected devices has transformed the way TV content is conceived and consumed. Interacting with these devices while watching TV is a trending behaviour that represents a challenge for the TV industry as this interaction often distracts viewers from the TV content. Consumers use the second screen to retrieve further...

Fulfilling informational needs of seniors is vital for a successful development of active ageing and independent living initiatives, which contribute for an effective provision of welfare benefits tailored for these citizens. This paper aims to propose a system architecture for automated generation of audio-visual contents adapted from Web feeds of...

This paper aims to present an ongoing PhD research of the Doctoral Program Information and Communication in Digital Platforms and proposes a context aware recommender system (CARS) of informative contents about Assistance Services of General Interest for the Elderly (ASGIE) [6], for later exhibition on an Interactive TV (iTV) platform. The first ph...

Over the years, television has been seen as a means of enriching human development. The technological evolution of this means of communication has led broadcasters to deliver more attractive and diversified contents. Hence, traditional broadcasting has evolved from the traditional passivity to the granting of a participatory role for viewers, creat...

As the demographic transition occurs in a global scale, dealing with the consequences of population ageing has emerged as a critical task to modern societies. This has led government entities to pay more and more attention to seniors' concerns, limitations and needs. A deep understand of old citizens, especially those unfamiliar with Internet and s...

Technological solutions, namely interactive television (iTV) applications, have a lot of potential to deliver adapted solutions to wider audiences or to specific groups of users. Elderly can be one of these groups but require a special attention by specialists due to their specificities. One of the central questions to develop pleasant and usable t...

Nowadays most of societies are facing ageing phenomenon what makes the promotion of seniors’ independence and autonomy a main issue. In this scope, one of the main factors that allow seniors to stay independent is their information level, which can be leveraged by an adequate use of Television, since this medium plays a crucial role as their key in...

Interactive Television (iTV) services that currently exist may be subject to a set of improvements in order to become more efficient and meet the needs of visually impaired users (VIU). The current television distribution infrastructures, since supplemented with a return channel and appropriated Set-Top Boxes (STB), open an interesting opportunity...

In the last decades almost all countries face the increasing of elderly population (United Nations, 2015). Given these recent changes, there have been appearing a several number of gerontechnologies to enhance seniors’ quality of life. In this context and despite the strong investment from the Governments to disseminate services like distance help...

Ageing is a global phenomenon that in the last decades has led to a significant inversion of the ageing pyramid in the developed societies. This fact has been introducing deep changes in societies leading to increase attention towards seniors' concerns and needs and has leverage the appearance of multiple gerontechnologies. In this context televisi...

The growing use of second-screen devices stresses the importance of finding a balance between engagement, distraction, and disturbance of its users, while simultaneously watching television. In this framework, this article reports on a study designed to analyze the efficiency, impact, and interference of different notification strategies aiming to...

Technological devices surrounding the television are changing, leading to changes in viewers’ habits and to the development of second-screen applications created to provide better TV viewing experiences. Used while watching television, the 2NDVISION application presented in this paper is able to identify – through audio-fingerprint – content being...