Presentation of Workshop on Technology for Healthcare and Healthy Lifestyle 2011 Thursday 1st Dec 2011 Session IV http://www.tsb.upv.es/wths2011

1. III Workshop
VERITAS project
FP7 247765
A New Approach Parameterization
of Cognitive Disabilities
Ana Navarro Cerdá
1/12/2011
11-12/01/2010 Kick-off meeting
WTHS’11 Brussels, Valencia
Belgium

2. A NEW APPROACH PARAMETERIZATION OF
COGNITIVE DISABILITIES
 The main topics of the study:
1. The problem - Needs
2. VERITAS User Modeling Methodology
3. Abstract Cognitive User Models
4. The ACT-R research approach
5. Cognitive moderators in ACT-R: Disabilities as
overlays
6. Obtained Results
2 7. Conclusions
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3. THE PROBLEM – NEEDS (1/3)
 In the EU 27 countries about 16% of the population are over 65, a number that is
estimated to rise rapidly in the coming years.
 Up to 15% of the population across the European Union has a disability, such as a
visual, hearing, speech, cognitive, or motor impairment. Around 20% of people
over 50 experience severe physical disabilities
 Spending on pensions, heath and long–term care will rise sharply over the next 20
years. Need to increase QoL, independence and autonomous living.
 BUT: Currently, most applications, services, goods or infrastructures are not fully
accessible today, hindering the user’s autonomy.
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4. THE PROBLEM – NEEDS (2/3)
Current design and development process:
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5. THE PROBLEM – NEEDS (3/3)
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How do we create VIRTUAL Models
that include disabilities?
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6. VIRTUAL USER MODELING METHODOLOGY (1/4)
 The goal is to introduce simulation-based and virtual reality testing at
all stages of the design process in order to ensure that future products
and services can be “universally” used, including people with disabilities
and elders.
 Representing the users with disabilities by modeling the users’ functional
and cognitive capabilities parameterization of the models.
 VUM will be generated based on existing standards, metrics and
guidelines of user’s capabilities and with the measurements of users
obtained with the Multisensorial platform.
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7. VIRTUAL USER MODELING METHODOLOGY (2/4)
 3 User Modeling perspectives: Physical,
Cognitive and Psychological and Behavioural.
 The modeling process consists:
1. Abstract User Models Creation
2. Appropriate task models implementation based on
UIML/USIXML language
3. Interactive update and verification of the models
(with Multisensorial platform)
4. Generation of the Generic Virtual User
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Models(GVUM)
5. Integration of the three perspectives.
6. Creation of the Virtual User Models.
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8. VIRTUAL USER MODELING METHODOLOGY (3/4)
 Methodology to create the Virtual User models:
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9. VIRTUAL USER MODELING METHODOLOGY (4/4)
 General User Modeling Steps:
1. Abstract User Model
 Describes a disability
2. Generic Virtual User Model
 Describes the set of users having a specific disability,
 the affected primitive tasks with related parameters:
 Binary (ex. Abnormal step rhythm: Yes)
 Range of values (ex. Gait cycle [1.12, 3.22] sec)
3. Virtual User Model
 An instance of a virtual user
 Describes user’s disabilities,
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 the affected primitive tasks with the parameters for a
specific user
 Binary (ex. Abnormal step rhythm: Yes)
 Specific values (ex. Gait cycle : 2.1 sec)
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10. NEEDS FOR MODELING COGNITION &
PERCEPTION
 A person with a cognitive disability have
difficulties to perform specific tasks:
 People with Alzheimer/ Parkinson
lose the regular thinking abilities 
remembering how to perform a simple
task becomes challenging, and some
times even impossible.
 Cognitive aging implies in many
cases deterioration of many cognitive
functions. attention problems,
perception slows down, memory
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To achieve “Universal”accessibility, these aspects
should be also integrated in the Virtual User Model.
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11. ABSTRACT COGNITIVE USER MODELS (1/2)
 Should categorize the representative features of a cognitive disability
by:
 Definitions
 Types
 Cognitive functional limitations/capabilities.
 Relevant parameters
 Metrics found in literature
 Computational modelling approaches
 Two main research activities:
 Definition and parameterization of relevant cognitive processes in the
context of cognitive disabilities (Alzheimer/Parkinson/Cognitive Aging):
reaction time, memory, attention, perception, decision making &
speech.
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 Under the perspective of VERITAS domains (Automotive, Smart
Living Spaces, Workplaces, Infotainment and Healthcare), analysis of
existing approaches (mainly computational and cognitive architecture
models such as ACT-R, GOMS, Fuzzy Logic and Markov) ACT-R
selection as most promising cognitive architecture.
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12. ABSTRACT COGNITIVE USER MODELS (2/2)
Determine how cognitive disabilities affects on the
cognitive processes:
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13. ACT-R RESEARCH APPROACH (1/3)
 Cognitive architectures are theories to simulate
and understand how human mind works, based
on cognitive psychological theories.
 ACT-R uses a modular organization. The human
thinking and acting emerges from the interaction
of independent modules, related with specific
regions of the brain.
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14. ACT-R RESEARCH APPROACH (2/3)
 The ACT-R structure
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15. ACT-R RESEARCH APPROACH (3/3)
 ACT-R is a hybrid cognitive architecture:
 symbolic structure: production system that allows
representing how a person performs a task; (if-then)
 subsymbolic structure: a set of parallel processes
that represent how the different modules interact, that
can be summarized by mathematical equations with
parameters.
 ACT-R allows the “customization” of new
situations, users and domains, by tunning the
intrinsecal parameters and the task models.
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COGNITIVE & BEHAVIOURAL OVERLAYS
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16. COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIOURAL
OVERLAYS
 An overlay is an adjustment to the parameter’s value or
mechanisms that influence all models implemented in the
architecture. The main idea of an overlay is to change
the architecture in a way that the behaviour of all models
developed under that architecture will be affected.
For example, caffeine can be
considered an overlay for our
brain: it modifies cognitive
functioning, increasing processing
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speed by 3% and improving
vigilance by 30%.
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17. COGNITIVE MODERATORS IN ACT-R:
DISABILITIES AS OVERLAYS (1/2)
In ACT-R, an overlay will modify a combination of
parameters and mechanisms (subsymbolic
structure changes) to represent a specific situation
acting changes to information processing.
These theories are typically not cast as additions to
the knowledge necessary to perform a task, but
are described as changes to how people
process information under a specific situation
(ie: with a cognitive disability or under a
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psychological state. )
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18. COGNITIVE MODERATORS IN ACT-R:
DISABILITIES AS OVERLAYS (2/2)
 In the VERITAS case:
 an analysis was performed to determine these
overlays: the values of the parameters (from the
subsymbolic structure) per cognitive disability
related with the cognitive processes (high level and
low-level) detected in the AUM.
 a literature research has been conducted to extract
the values of these parameters for the different
VERITAS end-users.
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19. GENERIC VIRTUAL USER MODELS
FOR COGNITION (1/3)
The Cognitive Generic Virtual User Model
 describes the set of users having a
specific cognitive disability (Alzheimer,
Parkinson, cognitive)
 Includes the parameters and the values
“overlayed” by the disabilities
 Relates the affected primitive tasks
defined by VERITAS with the ACT-R
19 cognitive parameters.
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20. GENERIC VIRTUAL USER MODELS
FOR COGNITION (2/3)
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21. GENERIC VIRTUAL USER MODELS
FOR COGNITION (3/3)
 In the VERITAS case:
 an ongoing research is focusing on developing
& gathering ACT-R production task models that
correspond to the task models defined.
 The final development of this research will
provide useful information to complete the
parameterized cognitive user models.
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22. OBTAINED RESULTS
 So far we have found:
 5 ACT-R parameters related with cognitive ageing
 12 ACT-R parameters related with Alzheimer’s
disease
 5 ACT-R parameters related with Parkinson’s
disease.
All these values are related as well with the VERITAS
cognitive processes and primitive tasks.
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23. CONCLUSIONS & NEXT STEPS
 The study is still ongoing but we are able to
conclude:
 it is possible to find ACT-R studies related with the
cognitive parameters that will be relevant to model
VERITAS end-users.
 the parameters are mostly values and ranges
 We also found values with the help of research in
medical studies
 To improve the results and to extract missing values, is
necessary a larger research in collaboration with
23 psychologists to develop ACT-R models per each task
 Additional research is currently being performed
towards analysing how different psychological states
affect different cognitive processes
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24. We would like to have it THAT clear BUT…
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A LOT OF RESEARCH IS STILL MISSING!!!
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25. THANK YOU!!
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