2021

The eHealth Center is taking part in the Barcelona Science Festival

Festa Cičncia Barcelona
25/05/2021
Imma Alberch

Behavioural design researcher Manuel Armayones will be giving a talk at the 14th Barcelona Science Festival

The symposium is being held as part of the Barcelona City and Science Biennial

 

The Barcelona Science Festival takes place on Sunday 13 June. This scientific dissemination event is organized by Barcelona City Council with the aim of bringing research and innovation closer to the general public and is hosted at various venues around Barcelona. The symposium will be held with a live audience at the ICM-CSIC Institut de Cičncies del Mar as part of the Barcelona City and Science Biennial, which runs from 8 to 13 June. 

This year, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) eHealth Center will be taking part with a talk by Manuel Armayones. Armayones is a researcher at the eHealth Center's PSiNET Behavior Design Lab, and a member of the UOC's Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences. The behavioural design expert will give a TED microtalk entitled "Does persuasive technology limit our freedom?" You can sign up at the following link.

 

Technological persuasion: risks and benefits

Besides providing tools to promote healthier relationships with smartphones and apps, the eHealth Center researcher will focus his microtalk on the concept of persuasive technology, weighing up its risks and benefits. Could persuasive technology help us to maintain and improve our health? Armayones says that it can, but how?

"We need to realize that persuasive technology can be used for or against the individual," he says. In the first case, there are mobile apps that help us to take care of our health, while in the second, there are apps that use 'dark patterns' to create addiction. "In this regard, both critical thinking when it comes to the use of persuasive technology and transparency in the design of these apps are key elements that allow us to extract the maximum benefit from technology for our well-being."

The Science Festival takes place on Sunday 13 June and Armayones will give his talk during the TED microtalks section, which starts at 5.15 p.m. and ends at 6.00 p.m. (CEST).   

UOC experts

Photograph of Manuel Armayones Ruiz

Manuel Armayones Ruiz

Lecturer in the Psychology and Education Sciences Department
Researcher of the eHealth Center

Expert in: E-health; the Internet and health; e-patients; health in the future; the psychological impact of ICT; patient social networks; addiction; the Internet and new technologies; health and robotics; rare diseases and the Internet; online psychological intervention strategies; rare diseases and ICT.

Knowledge area: eHealth, eSalut, health and ICTs.

View file

Enllaįos relacionats