Would you trust a robot to diagnose your cancer? According to researchers at Penn State, people with high confidence in machine performance and also in their own technological capabilities are more likely to accept and use digital healthcare services and providers.
People's stereotypes regarding different locations around the world influence whether they feel secure in storing their data in cloud service centers in those locations, according to researchers at Penn State, who also found that stereotypes regarding brand authority influence people's trust in cloud services.
Does sitting in a coffee shop versus at home influence a person's willingness to disclose private information online? Does the on-screen appearance of a public location's online "terms and conditions" have an effect? According to researchers at Penn State, the answer to both questions is "yes," especially if the user has a tendency to instinctively distrust public wireless networks.
Virtual reality developers should be careful about incorporating too many fantasy effects if they want to program VR stories for journalists. If there are too many bells and whistles in a story, credibility could suffer, say researchers at Penn State.
Dongwon Lee, associate professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, and S. Shyam Sundar, distinguished professor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, will speak on “Big Data and Fake News: Training Computers and Humans to Detect Misinformation by Combining Computational and Theoretical Analysis.” The event, which will take place from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Nov. 2 in 233A HUB-Robeson Center, is free and open to the public.
Older people like some aspects of Facebook, such as keeping in touch, monitoring other's updates and sharing photos. However, other seniors listed privacy, as well as the triviality of some posts, as reasons they stay away from the site. Improving privacy settings and alerts may be a way for social media companies to tap into a growing senior market.
S. Shyam Sundar, distinguished professor in the Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State, was named a Fellow by the International Communication Association at the group’s annual conference, held May 25-29 in San Diego.
Just like real doctors and nurses, online health tools with good — but controlled — communication skills can promote healthier lifestyles, according to researchers. However, if their tone is conversational, these tools may lull users into a false sense of comfort, they add.
Cheery robots may give people the creeps and serious robots may actually ease anxiety depending on how users perceive the robot's role in their lives, according to an international team of researchers.
Technology may have helped turn users into their own information gatekeepers, but they may not necessarily make better, more informed decisions with that data, according to researchers.
Cool features with easy-to-follow instructions that provide control and community may keep Pinterest users pinning, liking and inviting, according to researchers, who add that these behaviors may reveal new ways people are using the web and social media.
Cool interactive web tools and neat features can boost a user's memory but they may also cause other content on the site to be less memorable, according to researchers.
A website with search and interaction history can be just as engaging as chatting with an online human agent, or robot helper, according to Penn State researchers.
Changing the layout of long and tedious software licensing agreements may not only make those agreements more understandable, but may even make the users like them more, according to Penn State researchers.
Robots can keep their parts and still change their gender, according to Penn State researchers, who noted that the arrival of robots with screens has made it easier to assign distinct personalities.
