ACT represented in three panels at the Human Computer Interaction conference in Vancouver

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Pictured: ACT members Barbara Ratzenböck, Francesca Comunello, Eugène Loos and Wendy Martin in Vancouver, Canada.

 

Eugène Loos launched the Intergenerational Gaming Platform at the Human Computer Interaction conference held in July in Vancouver, Canada. He also organized three panels: New media in the life of older people, Digital gaming among older populations, Intergenerational use of new media. The panels were presented as part of the stream on Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population, and involved various ACT researchers, including Francesca Comunello, Benjamin Lille, Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, Wendy Martin, Simone Mulargia, Barbara Ratzenböck, Margarida Romero, Andrea Rosales and Eugène Loos.

 

Eugène Loos, Professor at the University of Amsterdam, Senior Lecturer Utrecht University and ACT co-applicant, presents “Exergaming: Meaningful Play for Older Adults?”

 

 

Francesca Comunello, ACT researcher, presents “My grandpa and I ‘gotta catch ‘em all.’ A research design on intergenerational gaming focusing on Pokémon Go”

 

Benjamin Lille, graduate student at Université de Laval and ACT graduate student, presents “Intergenerational Techno-Creative Activities in a Library Fablab”

 

Barbara Ratzenböck, PhD student at the University of Graz and ACT graduate student, presents “Everyday Life Interactions of Women 60+ with ICTs: Creations of Meaning and Negotiations of Identity”

 

Wendy Martin, Lecturer at Brunel University and ACT co-applicant, presents “Visual Representations of Digital Connectivity in Everyday Life”

 

Update from ACT at the Graz International Summer School Seggau

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By Eva-Maria Trinkaus

The Graz International Summer School Seggau (GUSEGG) 2017 has started on July 2nd and through the long-standing cooperation with ACT, this year’s summer school is again host to one ACT module that focuses on aging in the framework of technologies. Line Grenier, who taught the first week of the module, has handed over to David Madden who will teach the second week, focusing on ageing and music, and ageing and material culture. This year, the module hosts 13 students from 12 different universities and 9 disciplines, and focuses on the “’art of aging in its intersections with the proliferation of computer-mediated communications and networked societies,” as described by the seminar professors.

In the lecture of the first week, Line Grenier shared her perspectives on aging and “The working force of concepts: critical reflections on ‘memory’ and its travels.” Grenier emphasized further emphasized the in-class topic of the seminar, and focused on the importance of memory in her lecture, addressing aspects such as memory loss, regaining memory through neuroscientific methods, and the nature of memory as a process that travels through space and time. David Madden will continue to delve into concepts related to age studies in week two, and also provide focus on the production of audio-based media capsules.

Elders Make Waves for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2017

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On June 9, 2017, the members of community organization and ACT partner Respecting Elders: Communities against Abuse (RECAA), along with Le Groupe Herencias and Encounters Project, organized a public walk comprised of moving art installations in downtown Montreal.

This event was organized to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which takes place on June 15 2017.

“Fingers on the Line” wins prize for best short documentary film

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“Fingers on the line,” a short film by Line Grenier, Véro Leduc and Pamela Witcher, won the the prize for best short documentary film at the Toronto International Deaf Film & Arts on May 27, 2017. The film explores some communication technologies of yesterday and today, and brings to the fore some reflections on technologies and ageing from deaf seniors. “Fingers on the Line” is part of the ACT-funded research-creation project Les aînés Sourds et la technologie, and has been screened as part of various events Montreal and beyond. You can view the English version of the film here. 

During the same festival, affiliated researcher Véro Leduc also won a prize for best experimental film for the “C’est tombé dans l’oreille d’une sourde,” a film she created as part of her recently completed PhD project.

Vote for CARE REBELS pilot

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With the support of TELUS Fund and ACT, our partner Catbird Productions, along with the co-creators Helene Klodawsky, Caroline Bâcle and their team, has completed CARE REBELS – JANET TORGE AND RADICAL RESTHOMES, a 5 minute pilot episode for a six part web series. Each episode in the series will profile an individual who is breaking barriers for unpaid friends and family caregivers. Our “rebels” work in various fields, from economics, housing, human rights, disability rights, technology to genetics.

Caregivers and the general public are invited to view the pilot and nine other pilot episodes and vote for their favourite between May 1-19th. The number of views and votes will influence the TELUS Fund’s decision on which 3 projects get the greenlight to go into production. You can vote multiple times for CARE REBELS but only once per day per device. Make it a daily thing!

Please WATCH – VOTE – SHARE the Care Rebels pilot !

Call for student applications: GUSEGG

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ACT is sponsoring a module on ageing, communication and technologies as part of the Graz International Summer School Seggau (GUSEGG), to be held in July 2017 and organized by the University of Graz.
This year the module focusses on (Re)configuring Age and Ageing: Critical Mediations in Critical Times, and is taught by ACT researchers Line Grenier and David Madden. ACT will partially fund up to five graduate students to attend the school, and specifically cover costs pertaining to tuition and boarding. You can learn more about the GUSEGG here, and the module on ageing here. More information about ACT’s involvement in the school from 2015 (including a great video “trailer” produced during the summer school) can be found here.

This opportunity is open to ACT-affiliated students who have not had the chance to participate in the school. Interested students need to apply to ACT. Applications should be sent to application@actproject.ca by April 12, 2017 and should include:

1) a 500-word letter on the student’s motivation to attend Graz International Summer School Seggau 2017 and why the topic of the lectures and seminar model is of value to them. The student should especially explain how their research fits within ACT and how they will benefit from courses in the module of (Re)configuring Age and Ageing: Critical Mediations in Critical Times.

2) A C.V.

3) The ACT student support form signed by a co-applicant or collaborator (form attached)

Successful candidates will be asked to provide more information to the GUSEGG, including academic transcripts and a copy of their passports.

End of fieldwork for Smartwatches, adoption(s) and appropriation(s)

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The team for the ACT-funded research project Smartwatches, adoption(s) and appropriations(s) has recently completed one year of fieldwork.

The fieldwork extended from Winter 2015/16 to  Winter 2016/17. During this amazing period we conducted bi.monthly semi-structured interviews with participants, and performed a usability test. Interviews were recorded and transcribed and we are now analyzing them to bring the results into discussion in conferences, and to publish journal articles.

The project involved nine participants: five in Barcelona (three women, two men), four in Rome (one woman, three men). With ages between 65 and 80 at the beginning of the study, the average age was 71.1 years old. We provided participants with a smartwatch: they could choose from among the Moto G 360 models available on the market during the recruitment process.

The project is led by ACT co-applicant Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol of Open University of Catalonia’s (OUC) IN3 in Barcelona, and includes other ACT members Francesca Comunello of Lumsa University in Rome, Simone Mulargia of Sapienza University of Rome and Núria Ferran-Ferrer of OUC.

RECAA-ACT Pop Up Restaurant

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Ressources ethnoculturelles contre l’abus envers les aîné(e)s (RECAA) and ACT invite you to their POP-UP Restaurant at Place Commune on March 25th, from 12pm to 2pm in Montreal.

This event is part of a food blog project, Food Talks, À table with RECAA and friends, developed in partnership with ACT. The project has unfolded through four main types of activities: cooking sessions and food forums that invite conversation, participation and inclusion; intergenerational digital skills workshops that focus on the skills required to write blog posts (photography, audio and writing workshops); the production and publication of blog posts and printed promotional cards; and cooking and eating events with partners and friends to favour discussion and raise awareness through community about RECAA’s concerns and mandate. Through this food blog project, RECAA, as an activist organization, strives to develop agency within a contemporary “food culture”.

Come to enjoy recipes from our food blog at foodtalks.recaa.ca and find out more about the project on the ACT project page.

Where: 7669 Querbes, Parc Extension – Wheelchair accessible (Metro Parc, 80 Bus)

When: Brunch will be served on March 25th, from 12pm to 2pm

How much: $8 for a plate; $2 for tea/coffee

ACT members on CKUT radio in Montreal

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ACT members will be alongside partners Respecting Elders Communities against Abuse (RECAA) on the Older Women Live (OWL) radio programme on CKUT in Montreal. They will discuss the recent food blog project, and will talk about the longstanding collaboration between ACT and RECAA that spans creative and research projects. Listen in on Wednesday, March 8 at 6pm on CKUT (90.3) in Montreal.