The UN SDG 5 is about gender equality, stating that "Gender equality is achieved when women, men, girls and boys have equal rights, conditions and opportunities, and the power to shape their own lives and contribute to the development of society. It is a matter of equitable distribution of power, influence and resources in society." (UN, 2015). One sub-goal is to use technology to empower women. Goal 7 points to the need for sustainable energy for all.

Despite a strong development of the solar industry in Sweden – which is of course positive in the pursuit of a renewable energy system – the solar industry (as well as the energy industry in general) is still heavily male-dominated in both development and installation, as well as among customers (IEA, 2020).

In this project, we look at how to increase the long-term social sustainability of solar energy and broaden the solar power deployment in Sweden by increasing the proportion of female house owners who invest in solar power. More customer groups need to be included in the long term to reach the goal of 100% renewable electricity production in Sweden by 2040 and to make more people feel involved in the energy transition that is now underway. This applies to many different groups in society, but in our project we have chosen to focus on women who live in private houses without solar power installed today. Our starting point is: what would solar products and services look like if they were designed based on the needs and desires of female homeowners?

We use methods from service design and norm creative innovation to identify current norms around technology, gender and market, and to identify opportunities for the solar industry to better reach out to and support women solar customers. To find out what the solar industry looks like today and what norms the industry consciously or unconsciously adheres to, we conduct interviews with companies and organizations in the solar industry and related industries. In spring 2021, we interviewed a total of 10 female and male participants, representing the full range from one-man businesses to global corporations.

The project also uses focus groups with women from our target group to find out their needs and thoughts on solar power. The results of both interviews and focus groups form the basis for further development of so-called customer journeys that show both weak points and opportunities in the "journey" from interest to installed solar panels.

The results of the project will include customer journeys with design concepts for products and/or services that put the target group in focus. We will also develop a digital material that can be easily disseminated within the solar industry. The project is primarily aimed at the various actors in the solar industry, with the aim of increasing the industry's ability to reach out to women solar customers. As in previous, similar projects (we are inspired for example by the YCC concept car by Volvo Cars), starting from the needs and requirements of a specific target group can result in innovative solutions that in practice not only benefit the specific target group but also a broader group of people.

Co-funders in the project are Trä- och Möbelföretagen (TMF), Solcellskollen, WSP, Derome Hus, IBC SOLAR, and Innovatum. In addition to these actors, four additional companies have contributed with their time by participating in an interview and workshop for the project.

Publications:

• A published article on some of the project's findings (interviews with the solar industry and focus groups with women from the target group) is now available. The article is open access and can be found in DiVA: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1707683&dswid=…

Background

Swarm technology is a projected next step in drone research and development. Today, an operator typically pilots a single drone. In the future, operators are expected to control multiple collaborating and autonomous drones that display an emergent behavior; their collective behavior emerges from local (and autonomous) interactions between drones. This presents new technological requirements and new cognitive demands for the operator. Specifically, questions are raised regarding which control mechanisms, feedback systems, and visualization tools the operator will require, and how these may affect the operator’s mental workload and situation awareness. The interaction design is also affected by the operator’s task and work context. It is therefore important to consider the technological, human, and organizational factors when developing autonomous drone systems.

Goal

The purpose of the HISOS project is to identify and understand the swarm operator’s command and control challenges and develop design solutions for systems and user interfaces to support the collaboration between humans and swarm systems. The goal is to develop design guidelines for human-swarm interaction that can be used to develop safe and efficient autonomous systems-of-systems.

Applications

The research conducted in the HISOS project is connected to several other RISE projects. For example, HISOS provides input to the CONTROL project which serves to develop a testbed for simulating and commanding autonomous systems-of-systems. In the Eyes-On-Scene project, researchers study how a drone can be deployed to assist in maritime search and rescue operations, where HISOS provides a vision of multiple collaborating drones for this use case. 

The insights gained from HISOS regarding human-swarm interaction can be generalized to inform the design of other autonomous systems-of-systems, like autonomous public transport systems, transport and logistics, or surveillance systems. Lessons learned also applies to the command and control of aerial, ground, or underwater autonomous vehicles. 

Det finns en stor potential här till både värde och välstånd, men det är också viktigt att förstå hur man skall utforma lösningarna och hur man skall förhålla sig till persondata både legalt och etiskt. Vi behöver förstå användarna så att lösningarna faktiskt svarar mot verkliga behov och önskningar. Ur en etisk synvinkel, och för att bevara tillit, är det viktigt att individen förstår implikationerna av att dela med sig, vilket data som delas, hur det kommer att användas, vilka nyttor som potentiellt uppstår i och med delandet, samt har kontroll över sitt data. Utöver detta måste man självklart förstå datat isig, inklusive metoder för insamling analys och presentation, samt dessas styrkor och begränsningar.

På RISE tror vi att man behöver en helhetssyn på dessa problem, och vi ser därför till att koppla samman forskargrupper med expertiser som svarar mot projektbehov:

• Personalisering inom flera områden, som till exempel  digitalisering inom industrin, mobilitet, lärande och e-hälsa.
• Användarcentrerad design, UX (user experience), service design och prototypning, där vi har flera olika forskargrupper som samarbetar i projekt både externt och internt.
• Digital etik utforskar etiska frågeställningar i relation till bland annat persondata och AI.
• Cybersäkerhet och tillit relaterat till medborgare och organisationer.
• Policy labs som utforskar policy- och regelverksutveckling för att stödja innovation.

Vi arbetar både inom forskningsprojekt och med behovsanalys, utbildning, design och rådgivning direkt mot kund.

Research shows a positive relationship between regular physical activity and major health benefits. More physical activity positively affects brain functions such as memory and concentration, protects against depression and dementia. Furthermore, the risk of many of our most common diseases such as high blood pressure, angina, heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity, colon and breast cancer but also falls and fractures is reduced. We must also not forget how important it is to counteract long periods of sedentary life, as it is in itself a risk factor for ill health even among people who are otherwise physically active. But despite the fact that many of us have this knowledge, it is challenging to get more people physically active today. There can be many obstacles to this such as, low level of knowledge, poorer socio-economic conditions, lower level of education and income, language barriers, low motivation and strong behavioral patterns that need to change, among other things.

The main goal of this project is to produce a regionally web-based activity catalog that is user-friendly and accessible, with the aim of making it easier for the residents of Västra Götaland to find activities based on the individual's interest with input from various actors; public, private, non-profit and on their own. The catalog must be easy accessible and attractive to everyone, with a special focus on children and young people, foreign background, various disabilities and people who are otherwise unaccustomed to searching on the internet. Additional target groups to consider are; people who in their profession work with peoples lifestyles and guide their patients / clients / students / participants / visitors on to different kinds of physical activity, and also the organizations that are responsible for all the activities in the region.

​Furthermore, the project investigates how this digital catalog can have measurable effects in the longer term in terms of increased activity and better health for the residents of the Västra Götaland region in all 49 municipalities. One of the assumptions is that the catalog alone is not enough if you want to reach those who have the worst conditions today to increase their level of physical activity. To succeed, the catalog needs to be supplemented. There are a number of ongoing services in the Västra Götaland region that it can be linked to already today, eg health coaches, healthcare, occupational therapists, school health, health pilots, lifestyle clinics, among others. By ensuring the use of the catalog in many different contexts, there can also be good chances that it will be spread among the inhabitants.

Remote interaction has increased lately, and is expected to become more important in our social lives and in work situations. This has largely been thanks to a quick advancement of connectivity and tech, which continues to develop continuously. This opens up for indefinite possibilities for remote interactions which are already tested and discussed today. Robotics can enable to walk around in places we are not able to access, and VR allows for virtual meetings where body language is included as well as other spatial aspects difficult to include in remote meetings today.

There is also a variety of situations and target groups for remote interaction such as medical exams at home, digital school environments or cultural experiences. The potentials are vast and the design needs to consider both the purpose and the user. 

 Digital facilitation and planning

Remote interaction does not only include new technology. Many experience difficulty when creating interactive sessions as it is, and asks for support in planning remote meetings and events. What is the best fit for the user and purpose regarding available tools, how is interaction created in working groups, and how are participants engaged to interact? The ability to facilitate in a digital context is important to reach the goals of the session and avoid "digital fatigue".

Digital social norms and inclusion

Something we all need to remember is that technology and digital tools do not create interaction automatically, they only enable it. It is still the participants who are interacting. The digital maturity or physical situation of each individual influences the rest of the group, which is not experienced to the same extent in traditional settings where the environment is shared. The social interplay is ruled by social needs and norms, which are both constantly evolving and takes new forms through digital interaction.

There are both potentials and risks with remote interaction from a equality perspective. The technology can have direct or indirect impact, and other societal norms influence behaviour and prerequisites for remote interaction. By acknowledging these risks and possibilities the interaction can be designed to get the best of both worlds.

The future workplace, school or cultural experience

The expectation is that the digitalization of interactions will continue to evolve. Simultaneously we can see different people have varying needs depending on living situation, geography or digital confidence. Situations where some people are physically in the same room and other interact remotely (so called hybrid events) will become more common but should not result in an advantage for some participants. This puts pressure on technology as well as planning and facilitation to aid both contexts. 

What can we offer?

At RISE there is broad competence surrounding both effects of the digital contexts, the array of tools as well as planning meetings and events, technical development, test beds for technology and design, and research regarding interaction, behaviour and design. We are right now looking towards the future workplace and what prerequisites and requirements for hybrid meetings exist. RISE can also offer support in digital facilitation, as well as digital norm critique and inclusion. 

The challenges of today are multi-faceted, complex and interconnected, and we need fun and engaging ways to work with them so that we can create collaborations and systematic approaches to make impactful change. Depending on the context, we adapt and develop the methodology to enable participants to explore, reflect, document and share challenges, opportunities and solutions of any given topic. Continuously prototyping, testing and iterating with many physical workshops internally and externally with RISE Innovation Partners, commercial clients and organisations.

With everyone working from home during the pandemic, virtual components are being developed to explore multi-user participation for it to be used as a remote and online tool. See above video to see how the demo prototype works.

Designed and developed by: Hayley Ho, Peter Sandberg, Johan Belking, Marius Johansson, Erik Einebrant, Martin Törnros

I projektet skapade vi en brygga mellan utbud och efterfrågan på ny välfärdsteknik. Dvs mellan entreprenörer och beställarsidan/behovsägarna där vi bidrog till utveckling av behovsanpassade och mer köpbara lösningar och även till en ökad kunskap och förståelse för utmaningar och möjligheter inom området välfärdsteknik. Vi hjälpte företag och offentlig verksamhet att förstå varandras förutsättningar för att kunna göra goda affärer.

I projektet skapade vi en neutral utvecklingsarena där entreprenörer och kommuner kunde ha ett enkelt utbyte och samtal kring vad som behövdes inom utveckling av välfärdsteknik. RISE hade en betydande del av projektet och ansvarade för denna utvecklingsarena som tillsammans med testmiljöerna skapade en helhet i utvecklingsflödet. Från att öka kunskapen inom en mängd olika områden, nätverkande i branschen och individuell coaching av företag till att genomföra tester i livinglab och erbjuda användarpaneler med specifika och relevanta kompetenser som verktyg för utveckling och förädling av lösning. 

Projektet var ett samverkansprojekt mellan tre kommuner, ett kommunförbund, en region och RISE (se ruta till höger). Projektet var delfinansierat av deltagande samt EU:s regionala tillväxtfond.

I projektet jobbade vi med:

• Coaching av entreprenörer/företag för att öka deras förutsättning att ta fram behovsanpassade och köpbara lösningar
• I början av projektet visade vi kommuner i regionen vilken teknik som fanns och inspirerade dem till att se välfärdsteknik som en möjlighet i välfärdsuppdraget
• Branschunikt nätverk med ca 150 företag/organisationer
• Vi genomförde 20 öppna nätverksträffar för lärande och nätverkande 
• Testmiljöer med testledare i Huddinge kommun, Nacka kommun och Stockholms Stad/Skärholmen
• Tester genom living lab både i hemmiljö och på särskilt boende 
• Tester genom paneler och workshops med behovsägare, användare och relevanta yrkesroller framtagna för varje unikt test. 
• Återkommande fysiska och digitala seniorpaneler
• Utveckling av testkompetens och digitaliseringsmognad hos deltagande kommuner/testmiljöer
• Inspirationsföreläsningar till beslutsfattare, medarbetare /verksamheter och användare
• Framtidsinspirerade dialoger och samverkan med andra forskningsprojekt 
• Samverkan med andra SME-stödjande organisationer och projekt både externt och inom RISE

Några framgångsfaktorer och nyttor vi såg i projektet var:

Framgångsfaktorer

• Ingen eller mycket låg ingångströskel
• Bollplank med kompetent testkund
• Insyn hos kunden/verksamheten – förstå kontexten
• Ärliga utan värdering
• Neutral partner – ”ofarlig” och enkel kontakt med företag för offentliga aktörer
• Processmetod från utvecklingsarena till testmiljö
• Erbjuda test mot rätt målgrupp
• Erbjuda rätt företag till rätt testmiljö

Nyttor

• Erbjudande och affärsidé utmanas
• Fördjupad kunskap genom samtal med olika yrkesroller, seniorer m fl
• Nätverksträff som skapar fokus på utmaning
• Dialoger och test hjälper till i prioritering av funktionalitet
• Ökad och ny kunskap om behov av utveckling av ny funktionalitet
• Kunskap om möjlighet att arbeta på andra sätt
• Kunskap om aktörer och innovationer på marknaden

 Erfarenheter och lärdomar från projektet väver vi in i nya projekt och aktiviteter med nya samarbetsparter.

Vill du läsa mer om projektet finns material här. Men tveka inte att ta kontakt med Malin Edlund Fransson eller Ann-Sofie Mårtensson om du vill veta mer. 

The project will explore visual, optical and ergonomic conditions for a speech-to-text system that will present text to people with hearing impairment using technologies based on Augmented Reality and automatic speech recognition (Speech-to-Text System using Augmented Reality ”, abbreviated STAR).

The goals are to
1. create a demonstrator for an AR-based speech-to-text system
2. implement an experimental set up and
3. investigate basic visual, optical and ergonomic principles for presenting text in AR for people
with hearing impairments, to create a demonstrator for an AR-based speech-to-text system, with
related guidelines.

The project will be led and carried out by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden in close collaboration with De Hörselskadades Riksförbund, HRF (the organisation in Sweden for people with hearing impairments).

Project members at RISE are: Börje Andrén, Kjell Brunnström, Pär Johanson and Bo Schenkman

This project is now finished, but continues in RISE funded projects about digital aids for people with sensory disabilities and medical equipments