Category / Computer Science

Digital Health and AI: Paving the Way for Health Equity in Maternal and Infant Care

The long awaited 10-year health plan for England emphasises the use of digital technologies and the aspiration to “make the NHS the most AI-enabled health system in the world”. This requires expertise in artificial intelligence and data science, but interdisciplinary collaboration is also essential if we are to make this a reality.

The Maternal and Infant Health Equity Research Centre (MIHERC) aims to do this by bringing together experts in maternal health, behavioural science, AI and digital health to help drive innovative solutions through co-production and real partnership, ensuring better outcomes for all women and babies. MIHERC is led by Professor Hora Soltani at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) in collaboration with key partners including Bournemouth University (BU), the City of Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub.

Alongside Professor Vanora Hundley, who has been appointed as a Capacity Training and Development Lead, Professor Huseyin Dogan and Prof Alessandro Di Nuovo from MIHERC will be co-leading the cross-cutting workstream titled “digital, data, monitoring, evaluation and implementation science” as part of the NIHR Maternity Disparities consortium. This workstreams aims

– to identify and test trusted, reliable AI technologies for deployment by the NHS to help reduce disparities;

– to develop and refine equity monitoring, real-world evaluation and implementation science methods for use in maternity disparities research, with a focus on enhancing their robustness and practical application;

– to embed advanced analytic and digital tools and implementation frameworks into maternity disparities research to improve the rigor and impact of studies on equity; and

– to build a community of practice within and external to consortium to develop analytical, methodological, and implementation science capacity.

The BU key academics are: Huseyin Dogan, Vanora Hundley, Edwin van Teijlingen, and Deniz Çetinkaya. Please do get in touch with the MIHERC team for further information.

Bournemouth University Showcases Defence Innovation at BattleLab’s South West Regional Defence & Security Cluster Event

What a brilliant and absolutely packed South West Regional Defence & Security Cluster showcase event at the BattleLab on July 2nd, 2025! The team, led by Professor Huseyin Dogan, proudly showcased Bournemouth University’s capabilities in the defence sector.

The Bournemouth University team included Finn Morgan, Nigel Davies, Serdar Akar, and Egemen Oner, alongside their client, Dr. Shamal Faily from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). Among the 180 guests and exhibitors, the BU team presented three Dstl-funded projects covering critical areas such as human factors, risk-informed decision-making, and cyber resilience.

   

Featured Dstl-Funded Projects:

  • Tool-support for embedding safety, security, and human factors analysis into Secure by Design requirements.
  • Risk-Informed Decision-Making (RIDM) in Intentional Electromagnetic Interference (IEMI).
  • Towards Productive Cyber Resilience and Safety Analysis in Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE).

Collaboration for Secure by Design Practices

In addition to the BattleLab showcase, Dr. Duncan Ki-Aries and Prof. Huseyin Dogan also partnered with Mima, a human-centred design consultancy. Their collaboration focused on developing and evaluating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This MVP demonstrates how safety, security, and human factors analysis can be seamlessly integrated into Secure by Design requirements practices. The tool was successfully demonstrated at the Dstl Portsdown West site in June 2025, further highlighting Bournemouth University’s expertise in developing secure and effective systems for defence applications.

If you’re interested in learning more about these impactful projects, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Prof. Huseyin Dogan and Dr. Duncan Ki-Aries.

 

Bournemouth University Recognised at IEEE Artificial Intelligence Conference for Work in Human-Centred AI

Professor Huseyin Dogan was honoured with both the Best Service Award and the Best Paper Award at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence held in Silicon Valley, USA. This recognition highlights the importance of Human-Centred AI and Professor Dogan’s valuable contributions to the area.

Professor Dogan travelled to Silicon Valley in May 2025, supported by funding from Google, USA, to lead a special track focused on Human-Centred AI. The track included 24 paper presentations and addressed the crucial need for ethical considerations in the development and application of both autonomous and collaborative Human Centred AI systems.

The conference organisers stated that “these honours are a testament to Prof Dogan’s outstanding contributions and dedication to the field.”

IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence

Bournemouth University’s commitment to shaping the future of User Experience (UX) and Human-Centred AI extends beyond this prestigious conference. Professor Dogan also recently led a highly anticipated workshop at CHI 2025 in Yokohama, Japan, on “Defining a User Experience Research Point of View” also funded by Google. The ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) is globally recognised as the premier international forum for research in human-computer interaction.

This influential CHI workshop was a collaborative effort, organised alongside leading experts in the field: Stephen Giff (Google, USA), Renée Barsoum (Admiral, UK), Elizabeth Churchill (MBZUAI, formerly of Google and the ACM), and Alan Dix (Swansea University, Wales, UK). The participation of such prominent figures highlights the significance of the topic and BU’s contribution to the international research community.

CHI Conference Photo

These recent successes highlight Bournemouth University’s growing influence in the critical field of Human-Centred AI and User Experience research. Through international collaborations and impactful engagement at leading conferences like IEEE AI and CHI, the university is actively contributing to the discussion around developing AI systems that are both effective and aligned with human values.

 

Pioneering Research to Tackle Maternity Disparities: BU Academics Lead Major NIHR Initiative

Women's Academic Network

We’re thrilled to announce that Bournemouth University (BU) is at the forefront of a significant national effort to address inequalities in maternity outcomes. Two distinguished professors from across our faculties, Professor Huseyin Dogan and Professor Vanora Hundley, have been appointed to lead crucial workstreams within the prestigious National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maternity Disparities project over the next five years.

This vital initiative aims to make a tangible difference in the lives of mothers and babies by tackling the complex factors that contribute to disparities in maternity care and outcomes.

Professor Huseyin Dogan will co-lead the Digital, data, monitoring, evaluation and implementation science workstream. His expertise will be instrumental in leveraging innovative digital tools and robust data analysis to better understand and address existing inequalities. This workstream will focus on developing effective strategies for monitoring progress and ensuring that evidence-based interventions are successfully implemented in practice. Prof Dogan has also played a pivotal role in curriculum innovation at BU, co-founding several innovative MSc programs, including the UK’s first MSc Digital Health.

Professor Vanora Hundley has been appointed as a Capacity Training and Development Lead. As part of the Capacity Development Group, she will be responsible for developing an ambitious programme to inspire, develop and support the next generation of maternity disparities researchers. Vanora will also oversee the capacity development programme within the MIHERC collaboration. She is an experienced mentor for career young researchers and has received international recognition for her work in mentoring clinical academics: Sigma Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame (2020) and a European Recognition award (2023).

Adding further strength to this ambitious project, Professor Edwin van Teijlingen and Dr Deniz Cetinkaya will also be integral members of the team, providing their expertise and support over the next five years.

This significant involvement in the NIHR Maternity Disparities project is also anticipated to bring substantial research funding to BU, with projections estimating over one million pounds will be secured over the next five years through their respective roles and internal consortium project proposals. This investment will further fuel their research and impact in this critical area.

In a proactive move to lay the groundwork for the NIHR project, the BU team has collaborated with Sheffield Hallam University to establish the Maternal & Infant Health Equity Research Centre (MIHERC). This dedicated centre will serve as a hub for cutting-edge research, collaboration, and knowledge sharing in maternal and infant health equity. We encourage you to explore the centre’s website for more information: https://miherc.org/.

MIHERC is already actively engaged in shaping the discourse around these critical issues. The team has commenced the organisation and chairing of impactful events, including the upcoming Artificial Intelligence for Maternity and Women’s Health and Wellbeing session at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AIiH 2025). Further details about this exciting session can be found here: https://aiih.cc/maternity-and-women-health-wellbeing/.

Locally, the project will benefit from strong collaborations within Dorset. The team is working closely with NHS Dorset and Dorset Women CIC to address inequalities in women’s health.

This collaborative effort has already seen the launch of a valuable Women’s Health resource this month, demonstrating the immediate impact of this work.

The BU team is deeply committed to this crucial research and will continue to keep the wider community informed of their progress and key milestones over the next five years. This initiative represents a significant step forward in our collective efforts to ensure equitable and positive maternity experiences for all. Stay tuned for further updates!

The whole team at Bournemouth University 08.01.25

The whole team at Bournemouth University 08.01.25

Bournemouth University eHealth paper cited 40 times!

open access, Publishing, writing

Yesterday, ResearchGate alerted us that the paper ‘Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature’ [1] had reached 40 citations!  This paper has four Bournemouth University (BU) authors and one author, Prof. Gary Smith, who was FHSS Visiting Professor at the time of publication.  This literature review, published in 2020, sought midwives’ perspectives on women self-monitoring their pregnancy using eHealth and mHealth.

The paper fund that  midwives generally held ambivalent views towards the use of eHealth and mHealth technologies in antenatal care. They acknowledged the potential benefits of such technologies, such as their ability to modernise antenatal care and to help women make more informed decisions about their pregnancy. However, midwives were quick to point out the risks and limitations of these, such as the accuracy of conveyed information, and negative impacts on the patient-professional relationship.

This paper will contribute to our recently awarded NIHR funding to tackle inequalities in UK maternal healthcare as part of the NIHR Challenge Call: Maternity Disparities Consortium.  Profs Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen from the Centre for Midwifery and Women’s Health, and Prof. Huseyin Dogan and Dr. Deniz Cetinkaya from the Department of Computing and Informatics collaborate in MIHERC (Maternal & Infant Health Equity Research Centre).   MIHERC is led by Prof. Hora Soltani at Sheffield Hallam University, and it is a partnership with Bournemouth University, the City of Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub as well as several charities and voluntary organisations.  Prof. Dogan has recently been appointed  the co-lead for the “Digital, data, monitoring, evaluation and implementation science” work stream of the NIHR Maternity Disparities consortium.

 

Reference:

  1. Vickery, M., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Smith, G. B., Way, S., Westwood, G. (2020). Midwives’ views towards women using mHealth and eHealth to self-monitor their pregnancy: A systematic review of the literature. European Journal of Midwifery, 4(Sept.), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.18332/ejm/126625

 

BU research on road network efficiency reported in Times of India

international

BU research , led by PhD graduate Dr. Assemgul Kozhabek and Dr. Wei Koong Chai, on characterising efficiency of road networks in big populous cities around the world was covered by the Times of India, the world’s largest selling English-language daily in the world. The article reported the findings from BU’s work, specifically highlighted its insights into the structure, properties and efficiency of road networks in relevant cities in India.

 

Article: “Study rates ‘efficiency’ of city road network” March 17 2025, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/study-rates-efficiency-of-city-road-network/articleshow/119086477.cms.

 

BU collaborates with University of Exeter on modelling innovation adoption

innovation, open access, Publishing

Bournemouth University (BU) has collaborated with the University of Exeter on modelling innovation adoption diffusion. The work, led by Dr. Wei Koong Chai in BU, draw on the epidemic theory and model the diffusion dynamics considering (1) the role of network structures in dictating the spread of adoption and (2) how individual’s characteristic/capability influences the path of diffusion (e.g. an individual may have different attitude or ability towards adopting a new innovation). A positive adoption decision is related to the number of neighbors adopting the innovation. The neighbors decisions are, in turn, dependent on their own neighbors and so, it forms a complex cascading inter-dependent relationship between the different individuals in the network. As such, each node in the network is unique and its relevant adoption rate must be considered separately conditioned with the activities occurring in the network over time.

The model offers insights into how the network spectrum affects the innovation exposure rate and spreading of innovation individually and across communities with different adoption behaviours. It also illustrates the effects of the embedded social structure and the characteristics of individuals in the network on the path of innovation diffusion via two use cases: (i) innovation adoption of EU countries in a Single Market Programme and (ii) innovation adoption of specific class of technology (specifically financial technologies (FinTech)).

 

Reference:

Duanmu, JL., Chai, W.K. Modelling innovation adoption spreading in complex networks. Appl Netw Sci 10, 10 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41109-025-00698-8

 

 

Research seminar and tech showcase 12.02.25: ICONIC (Intergenerational Co-design Of Novel technologies In Coastal communities) project

Fusion, innovation, PG research, Research themes

The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre are welcoming colleagues from Plymouth University to talk about the ICONIC project (see more details below) and showcase some of the technologies they have created.

 The team are interested in talking to any BU colleagues who work on co-design/digital health or immersive technologies and AI so please do come along (and let Michelle mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk know if would like to give a short presentation about your research).

 12th February 2025

11-1pm (presentations will be first and then tech showcase)

P222, Poole House, Talbot Campus

ICONIC Project

The ICONIC (Intergenerational Co-design Of Novel technologies In Coastal communities) project is exploring how co-design of novel technologies can support digital inclusion in Cornwall and Devon. The project recruited 99 participants to join intergenerational co-design workshops to create technologies that support access to environment, heritage, and community resources. The technologies include a social game, immersive heritage and underwater experiences, and a voice AI system accessed via a telephone call. The research team will be sharing their insights from the co-design process for each technology and discuss the effects of participation on digital inclusion.

  • Dr Rory Baxter is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Technology, University of Plymouth, working on the EPSRC funded Intergenerational Codesign Of Novel technologies In Coastal communities (ICONIC) project to address digital exclusion in Cornwall and Devon. The project involves the intergenerational co-design of technologies for supporting access to heritage, environment, and community resources. His previous work includes the ESRC funded GOALD and ERDF funded EPIC projects, which focused on digital health innovation co-design and evaluation to support healthy ageing. Prior to that he completed an EPSRC funded iCASE PhD, exploring human navigation and search behaviour, during which Rory developed VR-based experimental tasks using Unity, which were adapted for online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Dr Oksana Hagen earned a BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from NCTU (Taiwan), MSc in Computer Vision and Robotics through the Erasmus Mundus ViBOT program, and a PhD in Computing at the University of Plymouth. After a brief period in industry, Oksana joined Aldebaran AI Lab (France) under a Marie Curie Fellowship to focus on research in machine learning. She subsequently contributed to social robotics research for AgeIn project at the University of Plymouth. Currently, she is part of the ICONIC project, developing VoiceAI and underwater telepresence applications through co-design. Her research interests include machine learning, robotics and HCI.
  • Dr Marius Varga’s expertise sits at the intersection of game technology and user experience, with a focus on serious games and immersive experiences. Currently, a Research Fellow part of the ICONIC project, using a co-design approach, Marius leads the development of a multiplayer Social Game focused on seagrass conservation and for Extended Reality (XR), he is developing an immersive heritage experience in partnership with National Trust. Marius is also involved in digital health projects such part of Bridging project – focused on using XR training with autistic employees and employers and Glider project – addressing challenges in frailty through robotics, play and immersive technology.
  • Dr Linan Zhang holds an MA in East Asian Studies (Japanese) and an MSc in International Development from the University of Edinburgh. She later earned a PhD with Transtechnology Research at the University of Plymouth, where she developed a philosophical framework to ease the paradigm conflicts in knowledge sharing, drawing inspiration from an international health collaboration, a global health crisis, and the development discourse. She is currently an Associate Lecturer for i-DAT, a Research Fellow in Orbital Science, and the Media and Admin officer for the ICONIC Project at the University of Plymouth. Additionally, she serves as an Associate Editor for Leonardo Review.

New research published on Artificial Empathy in the Metaverse

Dimitrios Buhalis new research published on Artificial Empathy in the Metaverse

Assiouras, I., Laserer; C., Buhalis, D., 2025, The Evolution of Artificial Empathy in the Hospitality Metaverse Era, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Volume 126, April 2025, 104063 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2024.104063

Highlights

  • Artificial empathy of intelligent agents can be strengthened in the metaverse.
  • The experimental nature can hinder the development of artificial empathy.
  • The interoperability is critical for the development of artificial empathy.
  • Enhanced empathy of AI agents in metaverse will improve customers’ reactions.
  • Opportunities and challenges arise in the development of human empathy.

Abstract

As hospitality enters the metaverse era, artificial empathy becomes essential for developing artificial intelligence (AI) agents. Using the empathy cycle model, computational empathy frameworks and interdisciplinary research, this conceptual paper proposes a model explaining how artificial empathy will evolve in the hospitality metaverse era. The paper also addresses customer empathy and responses towards AI agents and other human actors within the hospitality context. It explores how metaverse characteristics such as immersiveness, sociability, experiential nature, interoperability, blended virtual and physical environments as well as environmental fidelity will shape computational models and the evolution of artificial empathy. Findings suggest that the metaverse enables AI agents to form a seamless cycle of detection, resonation, and response to consumers’ affective states, facilitating the evolution of artificial empathy. Additionally, the paper outlines conditions under which the artificial empathy cycle may be disrupted and proposes future research questions that can advance our understanding of artificial empathy.

 

 

 

BU Professors appointed to REF People, Culture and Environment (PCE) pilot panels

REF Subjects, Research assessment

Professor Kate Welham and Professor Vanora Hundley have been appointed as members of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) People, Culture and Environment (PCE) pilot panels.

REF 2029 logo

The next REF exercise, due to take place in 2029, will deliver an expanded definition of research excellence – recognising the wide range of research, roles, and people that are essential to the UK’s research system.

A key part of this is the development of the PCE element – assessing the research culture and environment of institutions and how research and researchers are supported.

The PCE pilot panels will explore the practicality of submission and assessment of the various elements of PCE.

In the pilot, a broad sample of 40 HEIs will produce submissions for assessment in a selection of REF Units of Assessment (UoAs). These submissions will be assessed by eight UoA-level pilot panels, with institutional-level submissions examined by a separate panel.

Professor of Midwifery Vanora Hundley, who will sit on the UoA 3 (Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy) panel, said: “People, the research culture and the environment in which researchers work are vital to supporting excellent research.

“I am delighted that REF have made People, Culture and Environment (PCE) a focus for REF2029 and I look forward to working with the panel to develop robust processes to support the PCE element.”

Professor of Archaeological Sciences Kate Welham, who will sit on the pilot panel for UoA11 (Computer Science and Informatics) said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the development of fair and transparent approaches that recognise how quality research is created across the UK. I am really looking forward to working with everyone taking part in the exercise.”

The experience and feedback of the panels will be included in the final pilot report, which will inform the REF 2029 guidance on PCE.

To find out more about the PCE pilot and REF 2029, please visit the REF website

Insights from the Alan Turing Institute Data Study Group

Women's Academic Network

Stepping into the world of data science at the Alan Turing Institute (ATI) Data Study Group from September 9-13, 2024 was an exhilarating experience. As the national institute for data science, the ATI’s strong connections to academia and industry set the stage for a week of intensive collaboration and problem-solving.

Joining the Transport for London (TfL) project within the hackathon-style event, I found myself amidst an eclectic team of 11 individuals, each bringing a unique set of skills and backgrounds to the table. The project’s challenge of identifying physical assets on the London Underground from point cloud data presented a thrilling opportunity to apply our collective expertise to a real-world problem.

The task at hand was no small feat – analysing point cloud data to pinpoint key track features along the London Underground network. With collected image data, our goal was to automate the detection and classification of critical track components such as sleepers, rails, signalling equipment, and more. Our team’s approach was multifaceted, involving rigorous preprocessing, segmentation model training, and advanced data analysis techniques. By leveraging tools like U-Net and SAM 2 for image segmentation and employing post-processing methods to extract valuable insights from the predicted masks, we made strides towards achieving our objectives.

As an individual who recently completed a PhD thesis on “Complex Urban Road Networks: Static Structures and Dynamic Processes,” this opportunity to apply my research expertise in a practical setting was both challenging and rewarding. The seamless blend of academic knowledge and hands-on problem-solving during the ATI Data Study Group not only expanded my technical skills but also reinforced the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in tackling complex data challenges.

Thanks to The Alan Turing Institute,  especially TuringDSG organisers for an incredible opportunity. I would like to extend my gratitude to my PhD supervisor Dr. Wei Koong Chai for supporting my professional and personal development.

Assemgul Kozhabek (Computing Department, SciTech  )

Third INRC Symposium: Interdisciplinary Computational and Clinical Approaches at the Edge of Brain Research

Fusion, international, Knowledge Exchange, REF Subjects

Last month, we celebrated the third symposium of the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre at the Inspire Lecture Theatre, entitled “Interdisciplinary Computational and Clinical Approaches at the Edge of Brain Research”.

This year, our symposium revolved around two linking themes: applied machine learning for understanding neuroscientific data and translational neuroscience. We choose to contrast these two themes because they show the breadth of areas of the centre and steer the debate on potential synergies.

The event started with an exciting talk by Prof. Miguel Maravall (director of the Sussex Neuroscience Centre of Excellence, Sussex University).  Dr Maravall presented new experiments testing the idea that the function of the somatosensory cortex -beyond processing input information about an object’s features- represents the decision to act and even the outcomes of such actions. The recording of this lecture is available here.

Next, the first session concentrated on computational approaches. In this focused session, we enjoyed three talks. The opening talk by Michak Gnacek (Emteq Labs Emteq Labs, Brighton and Centre for Digital Entertainment, BU) showcased his appealing results on affect recognition in Virtual Reality leveraging multimodal physiological recordings and continual machine learning. The second speaker was Dr Géza Gergely Ambrus (Department of Psychology, BU). Dr Ambrus presented gripping new findings that extend the application of multivariate pattern analysis beyond face perception to other facial characteristics to explore underlying neural mechanisms. Finally, Dr Matteo Toscani (Department of Psychology, BU) discussed a series of intriguing studies over the recent years on unsupervised learning approaches -such as avant-grade deep autoencoders- for inferring haptic material properties.

After this first session, Prof. Jonathan Cole (University Hospital Dorset, NHS) opened the second session centred on clinical neuroscience. In his inspiring talk, Dr Cole discussed his research on patients with congenital and acquired complete absence of touch and movement/position, showing how the absence of these senses leads to different alterations in proprioception. Next, Prof. Caroline Edmonds (Department of Psychological Sciences, University of East London) presented a fascinating study on real-life implications of co-occurring memory impairments in children with neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy. The study evaluated memory function in school-aged children with this condition who received hypothermia treatment and survived without extensive neuromotor impairment.

To conclude the symposium, Prof. Birgit Gurr (Community Brain Injury and Adult Neuropsychology Services Dorset at Dorset HealthCare University, NHS) and Dr Ellen Seiss (Department of Psychology, BU) introduced a compelling evaluation of the dynamic information processing programme, encompassing mental exercises fostering the recovery of patients from a stroke.

After the symposium, we visited the Multimodal Immersive Neuro-sensing lab for natural neuro-behavioural measurement (MINE), led by Dr Xun He.

All in the INRC would like to wholeheartedly thank the speaker and the attendees for the fascinating talks and exciting debates we had. If you are interested in getting in touch, contributing or joining the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre, please do not hesitate to contact Ellen Seiss (eseiss@bourenmouth.ac.uk) or Emili Balaguer-Ballester (eb-ballester@bournemouth.ac.uk).

Thank you again for your interest, and we are looking forward to seeing you in our upcoming activities.

Kind regards,

Ellen and Emili, on behalf of all of us at the INRC

 

ACM SIGCOMM Test of Time Award

 

Happy to share that our paper entitled “Probabilistic in-network caching for information-centric networks” published in ACM ICN 2012 has been identified as one of the top 1% most cited/downloaded papers in the ACM Digital Library from those published between 2012-2014 and was considered for the 2024 ACM SIGCOMM Test of Time Award. The research was part of the work conducted under the EU ICT COMET project.

The paper was co-authored by Wei Chai,  Yiannis Psaras (protocol.ai) and George Pavlou (University College London).