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Artificial Intelligence implies computer systems capable of mimicking human-like intelligence and competencies. In the nowadays society it is an exciting topic, thus, technology’s gender features and roles are of great interest as well. As the literature is still scarce and inconsistent, the present paper aims to develop a systematic literature review on gender stereotypes attached to technology (virtual assistants and robots). The main goals are to emphasize the labels given to technology from a gender perspective, the perceived competencies of the gendered technology, the most relevant variables responsible for the way gender issues are perceived in connection with technology, and the proposed solutions for diminishing the technology gender stereotypes. Forty-five scientific papers have been selected and analyzed. Findings suggest that the most intelligent technologies are designed as females, male-gendered technology performs better in task-solving, and users’ age and technology’s visual representation are important variables in perception.

Worldwide, numerous studies have been conducted on m-health applications and the results show that, if well-designed, they can regulate and track medication and reduce healthcare costs. The aim of this research is to analyze the experiences of users connected to different lifestyle apps, in particular (1) to explore the negative, neutral and positive topics in the reviews, and (2) to discover the role of health improvement among the comments. The present paper is part of a complex empirical research project. A qualitative and quantitative content analysis was conducted of the user reviews in the Google Play store for the 16 lifestyle apps selected during the first phase of the empirical research (quasi experiment). All in all, 2,835 comments were analyzed. The negative comments mentioned unreliable tracking functions, problems with updates, or high prices. The neutral comments outlined some missing functions or problems with the operation of the app. The positive comments were related to health improvement, usefulness, ease of use, engagement and willingness to recommend the app. Physical activity, facilitating a specific diet, weight loss, wellbeing, tracking progress and health awareness were among the common health aspects of the lifestyle apps. The results of this research will be particularly useful for consumers, app developers and service providers who focus on health awareness and health promotion.

This paper presents a pre-validated set of 12 static 3D stimuli for the needs of uncanny valley-related studies. We provide the set along with guidelines on how to use it, which are based on the aggregated data analysis covering previous laboratory and online studies. Guidelines cover the models’ characteristics (in terms of human-likeness and other visual traits), issues related to the stimuli presentation and study groups. As the set is publicly available, we believe that it enhances future studies aimed at replicating the uncanny valley effect.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the importance of social media in the recruitment of Generation Z, with a focus on their expectations towards social media recruiting. In a qualitative analysis, nine interviews were conducted with members of Generation Z, as well as a focus group discussion with six HR managers. Based on our research sample, both members of Generation Z and recruiters attach great importance to social media recruiting. Members of Generation Z can be characterized by their willingness to use social media, active sourcing, and the talent pool to actively support their job search. The social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, XING, and LinkedIn are identified as potential contact points for the generation. However, a discrepancy was uncovered between what HR managers expect in relation to the usage of social media for job searches and the actual passive use of social media for this purpose by Generation Z. In addition, a positive candidate journey and attention to various (passive) touch points are important for successful recruitment of Generation Z members. Due to the open attitude of the generation towards social media recruiting, they need to be made aware of this topic during their candidate journey.

Nowadays, the process of cognitive or motor rehabilitation is mostly implemented in a traditional form. Paper-pencil cognitive exercises or physical exercises with instruments still dominate over digital environments. However, they require constant supervision by professionals, whose availability is relatively decreasing in an ageing society. Lack of supervision, in turn, results in a loss of motivation to exercise or, at the very least, ineffective, sometimes incorrect, exercise. In addition, traditional rehabilitation mechanisms are often repetitive and tedious. Sometimes a lack of supervision or routine results in a failure to adapt the challenges to the user's current needs. Digital environments and modern technology have much to offer in this regard. One aspect is gamification mechanisms, which work well in video games and allow players to be engaged for hours in challenges of modulated difficulty. Another aspect is the rapidly developing biosensors and tracking systems that allow the user's activity and biophysiological parameters to be monitored in real time. However, the combination of the benefits of technology and gamification stimulus mechanisms must be done in strict accordance with the user's capabilities in order to make the challenges constructive rather than destructive for the user's body and mental conditions. Ongoing monitoring of effort and mental workload and their synchronization with fatigue in the digital environment, supported by motivational gamification mechanisms, form the foundation of the correct and controlled exercises and rehabilitation.

Smart living is an essential dimension of an ageing society because one of its measures includes living conditions (health, safety, housing). Many technological solutions are designed to satisfy the needs of older people living in cities. Humanoid robots are one of the technologies that can significantly improve the quality of life in older adults. The Rudy Robot is an example of a robot adapted to the needs of older people. The conducted research aimed to gain knowledge about the potential future use of the humanoid Rudy Robot by older adults in the context of smart living. The study mainly aimed to identify the robot’s most important functionalities that could improve older adults’ quality of life based on a literature review. In addition, the Rudy Robot was rated according to the most important criteria for evaluating the robot. The paper also examined whether age, sex, education and place of residence affect the assessment of the Rudy Robot technology. It should be noted that this technology is not available in Poland but has become known due to television, the Internet, etc. Respondents received a description of this technology, examples of use, and links to literature and films together with the questionnaire; thus, they knew what the Rudy Robot was and its characteristics, possibilities and potential.

The digital transformation in both the social and business fields requires the development of new skills related to the use and implementation of contemporary IT technologies, which provide the basis for Industry 4.0. One of the main concepts of these changes is the automation and robotization of business processes. The design, implementation and use of solutions in this field require appropriate skills. Therefore, it is necessary to identify gaps in digital skills and reduce them with adequate training and development. The main objective of the paper is to identify both current gaps and future needs for digital design skills to support and understand the automation of business processes. A survey was carried out in manufacturing companies from six European countries. Its results have enabled us to create a future-oriented digital design competence framework that addresses the requirements of process design and automation in the Factory of the Future.

The human aging process is associated with systematic deterioration of cognitive and motor performance. Age-related deficits in motor skills and symptoms of cognitive decline, such as memory, attention and executive functioning problems, are major contributors to a loss of functional independence and reduced quality of life of the elderly. The virtual reality system presented can be used as an aid for effective training of those skills. The use of virtual reality training for therapeutic purposes is promising – not only does it provide encouraging medical and psychological effects but it may also be considered as an interesting leisure activity for seniors. The paper presents a pilot study which aims to qualitatively assess the usefulness of a VR technology-based solution for training cognitive and motor functions. The pre-test phase of the study was conducted on 9 subjects aged 62-81 (M = 71.66; SD = 7.00), who were asked to evaluate the performed tasks in terms of novelty and attractiveness. All subjects completed the pilot study. The SUS result was 55.56 (SD = 9.90), which is a marginal result. However, the UEQ result showed that all aspects of the game were reported as satisfactory. The pilot studies show that VR is well tolerated by the elderly. As demonstrated by the results, the system has moderate utility, but may be a promising solution for training cognitive-motor skills.

In the era of a rapidly aging European society, the demand for proven clinical decision support systems, links health observations with medical knowledge in order to assist clinicians in decision making is constantly growing. An increasing problem for this type of systems is not only the size of the processed data sets but also the heterogeneity of these data. Clinical forecasting often requires processing of both numerical data and multi-category data which are temporal. The conducted research has shown that a good solution to this problem may lie in the use of temporal inference, the ant-based clustering algorithm, rough sets, and fuzzy sets. The experiments used a real set of medical data representing cases of a disease that significantly reduces a woman's quality of life. Each case of uterine myoma disease (which affects more than 50% of women over the age of 35) is represented by more than 140 heterogeneous features. An incorrect decision about the type of surgery (thermoablation or surgery) not only affects female fertility but also the high risk of complications. Therefore, the solution discussed in this paper may turn out to be extremely important.