Smile to pay: predicting continuous usage intention toward contactless payment services in the post-COVID-19 era

PurposeFinancial technology (FinTech) is undergoing a transformation as a result of robotics and artificial intelligence. FinTech service providers are embracing contactless technology, including the development and widespread adoption of innovative payment service. Among the many types of contactless payment services, facial recognition payment (FRP) has gained in popularity. To capitalize on this rising popularity, comprehending the mechanisms underlying continuous usage intention toward FRP is essential. Drawing from the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) model, this study investigates how FRP attributes facilitate continuous usage intention.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 321 Chinese FRP users completed an online survey. Partial least squares structural equation modeling analyzed the results of the survey.FindingsThe results reveal that relative advantage and compatibility, user-interface attractiveness and perceived security (stimuli) promote performance expectancy, effort expectancy and positive emotion (organism), which in turn foster FRP continuous usage intention (response).Originality/valueThis research presents an S-O-R model that incorporates several attributes from DOI theory, the UTAUT model and the AIDUA framework to elucidate the antecedents of consumers' continuous usage intention toward FRP. The findings corroborate the significance of the S-O-R mechanism in FRP, setting the groundwork for the acceptance and development of biometric authentication technologies in service contacts and banks. In addition, the study highlights opportunities and essential aspects for FinTech service developers and providers to consider in terms of their practical significance.

Knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use over-the-counter COVID-19 self-testing kits

Objectives: Early investments in new diagnostic technologies that allow for rapid and decentralized testing were critical in reducing SARS-CoV-2's detrimental health and economic effects. This study evaluates public knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use COVID-19 self-testing kits. Methods: An online descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire was used in this study. The final study population included all contacted national and resident adults, age 18 and over, who were willing to engage in the study. The survey was divided according to participants' demographic information and 11 questions assessed the respondents' understanding of and willingness to use COVID-19 self-testing kits. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 24. Multivariate linear regression models were used to identify the factors influencing respondents' knowledge of and attitudes toward the acceptability of self-testing kits for COVID-19 and their willingness to use these kits. Key findings: A total of 876 respondents participated in the study and completed the whole questionnaire. The average knowledge score on the acceptability of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19 was 70.2%, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) [69.1%, 71.4%]. Participants who were postgraduate, female and vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as employees and older participants, were jointly highly associated with higher levels of knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Moreover, participants who had been infected with COVID-19, were vaccinated against COVID-19 or were female, employees, older, Western or Arabic were jointly highly associated with positive attitudes about the acceptability of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Conclusions: The majority of the respondents have acceptable levels of knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Nonetheless, future studies should consider the issues of pre- and post-test counselling, false negative results and the sale of unregulated testing kits. Additional information should be communicated so that people can make informed decisions and be protected from possible abuse of COVID-19 self-testing kits when they become available in pharmacies.

Patient Monitoring and Medicine Dispenser Robot

Medications are the key instruments for preventing and effectively managing chronic illness;however, despite their significance and well-known benefits, proper medication use remains a hurdle for patients and doctors both. People frequently fail to take their medications as prescribed, resulting in poor clinical outcomes, higher healthcare costs, and negative effects for workforce productivity and public health. The patient monitoring and medicine dispenser robot keen advantage lies in multi-tasking. A patient’s well-being is taken care at crucial times. The main objective of this robot is to provide proper medication at regular time intervals. Yes, this robot, patient monitoring and medicine dispenser robot will be the interface between the patient and the doctor. Human to human contact is the most prevalent way for airborne infections to spread, hence in this scenario, our robot will administer patient medicines at regular intervals. Pills will be placed in a proper manner;the tablet is given to patients in their own hands using a robotic arm and it is precisely given to every patient inside a room. Temperature check is mandatory infra-red technology is used to measures the temperature without any touch to avoid infection we can also get immediate and accurate temperature measurement. This can be used not only in hospital wards but also in old age homes, people who need proper medical assistance during pandemic situations and those who have physical disability. No airborne diseases such as corona virus and COVID-19, common cold, influenza etc., will spread because everything is maintained by the robot. The voice signal of the patients is acquired through a microphone and processed by serial voice recognition module and the voice input is stored in a SD card. The inclusion of camera, speaker and microphone will provide a healthy communication between doctors and patients. The required direction and accurate coordinates of the robot is determined is using calibration of gyroscope, magnetometer and accelerometer. Also, our robot is subjected to certain limitations. © 2022 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.

Knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use over-the-counter COVID-19 self-testing kits

Objectives Early investments in new diagnostic technologies that allow for rapid and decentralized testing were critical in reducing SARS-CoV-2's detrimental health and economic effects. This study evaluates public knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use COVID-19 self-testing kits. Methods An online descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire was used in this study. The final study population included all contacted national and resident adults, age 18 and over, who were willing to engage in the study. The survey was divided according to participants' demographic information and 11 questions assessed the respondents' understanding of and willingness to use COVID-19 self-testing kits. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 24. Multivariate linear regression models were used to identify the factors influencing respondents' knowledge of and attitudes toward the acceptability of self-testing kits for COVID-19 and their willingness to use these kits. Key findings A total of 876 respondents participated in the study and completed the whole questionnaire. The average knowledge score on the acceptability of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19 was 70.2%, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) [69.1%, 71.4%]. Participants who were postgraduate, female and vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as employees and older participants, were jointly highly associated with higher levels of knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Moreover, participants who had been infected with COVID-19, were vaccinated against COVID-19 or were female, employees, older, Western or Arabic were jointly highly associated with positive attitudes about the acceptability of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Conclusions The majority of the respondents have acceptable levels of knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Nonetheless, future studies should consider the issues of pre- and post-test counselling, false negative results and the sale of unregulated testing kits. Additional information should be communicated so that people can make informed decisions and be protected from possible abuse of COVID-19 self-testing kits when they become available in pharmacies.

Implementation and evaluation of a syringe vending machine trial in Tbilisi, Georgia.

BACKGROUND: Syringe vending machines (SVM) have proven to be an effective vehicle for providing an uninterrupted supply of sterile equipment to PWID, but they have not been implemented or disseminated broadly. The aim of this study was to implement and evaluate outcomes of introducing SVM in Tbilisi, Georgia. METHODS: We installed SVM at five HIV prevention sites in 10 locations in Tbilisi, Georgia and studied implementation over 20 months. We used the RE-AIM framework to assess outcomes across four RE-AIM domains: reach, effectiveness at providing syringe access, adoption and implementation. RESULTS: Reach. SVM reached 8% of the target population. Effectiveness at Providing Syringe Access. SVM dispensed 14% of all syringes distributed by HIV prevention services. Using SVM was associated with PWID receiving more sterile syringes from HIV prevention outlets. Adoption. All HIV prevention sites (N=5) invited to implement SVM agreed to participate. Sixty one percent of PWID who received SVM access cards used SVM at least once. Women and young PWID were more likely to use SVM compared to other PWID. IMPLEMENTATION: At some sites adherence of the outreach staff to the operational protocol was suboptimal. CONCLUSIONS: SVM are an acceptable, feasible and effective intervention for improving access to sterile injection equipment for PWID. Future research will need to elaborate approaches to build the sense of ownership and improve motivation of the field staff to engage with the new intervention, and to examine strategies for attracting groups of PWID who are not in contact with prevention and treatment services.

Time-series analysis of presentations to four syringe dispensing machines and a needle and syringe programme during COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne, Australia.

BACKGROUND: Australian harm reduction services are provided via a mix of modalities, including fixed-site needle and syringe programmes (NSP) and syringe-dispensing machines (SDMs). SDMs are cost-effective and provide 24-h anonymous access to needles/syringes, often to underserved geographic areas, and can attract clientele who may choose not to use NSPs. The introduction of COVID-19 control measures saw disruptions and adaptations to the provision of harm reduction services. It is possible that SDMs filled the gap in otherwise disrupted harm reduction services in Melbourne. In this paper, we use data from four SDMs and an NSP to explore changes to harm reduction usage during periods of COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne, Australia, in 2020. METHODS: Our data span September 2017-December 2020. We analysed daily counts of SDM use and monthly counts of NSP use, according to unique presentations to both. Auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) time-series models were fitted to the data with the effects of lockdowns estimated via a step function. RESULTS: Across the study period, we estimated 85,851 SDM presentations and 29,051 NSP presentations. Usage across both the SDMs and the NSP declined during the COVID-19 lockdowns, but only the decline in SDM usage was significant in ARIMA analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The slight, but significant decline in SDM use suggests barriers to access, though this may have been mitigated by SDM users acquiring needles/syringes from other sources. The decline, however, may be a concern if it led to lowered needle/syringe coverage and a subsequent increase in injecting risk. Further work is needed to properly explore potential changes in preference for needle/syringe acquisition site and associated barriers. Importantly, this work adds to the body of literature around the impacts of COVID-19 on harm reduction provision and potential areas of improvement.

Blockchain-based Lightweight Transaction Process Modeling and Development

Recently, blockchain systems are being applied in various application fields by combining blockchain with existing legacy systems. In particular, the cryptocurrency payment transaction system to support digital financial transactions is emerging as an important issue. Nevertheless, the development and valuation of blockchain-based cryptocurrency transactions and application services are fluctuating. With the advent of the Untact era due to Covid-19 recently, the commercialization of cryptocurrency is becoming more focused. In addition, as technical constraints for the spread of commercialization, there are problems of reaching a fast consensus in a large-scale blockchain network, consuming excessive energy for calculation, and storing the entire blockchain for verification. We propose a lightweight blockchain transaction process modeling to overcome these problems and to enhance blockchain applicability in an application environment where computing resources are weak. In addition, we propose a lightweight transaction-based blockchain application model optimized for areas with weak computing and network resources such as vending machines and ATMs.

New COVID-19 Normal: An Experimental Prototype of Smart Face Mask Vending Machine—An Indispensable Kiosk

In the ongoing COVID19 situation, one of the most basic yet necessary supplies for any human being is the face mask. Medical stores are facing shortage of face masks and it is also leading to crowding in confined spaces like medical stores hence aggravating the situation. The only solution to this is increasing the sources from where the citizens can get face masks and at the same time avoiding crowding and contact with any other human. The proposed Mask Vending Machine will make this happen. The physical machine that will store and vend the masks will have the Raspberry Pi as the central processing unit and the additional components like the steppers motors and monitor for display will be controlled by the Raspberry Pi. For payment and choice of quantity, an app has been designed. A QR code will be displayed on the monitor of the vending machine which has to be scanned with the app. Once scanned, it will ask the user for the number of masks needed and also facilitate the transaction process. Once successful, the masks will be vended. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Design of low cost voice operated vending machine using V3 module

In this project, a low-cost voice operated vending machine (VOVM) is designed using a V3 voice recognition module which is a touchless base vending system. The basic vending machine represents an automatic seller machine where the buyer puts the money in terms of coin or banknote into the vending machine. Then, the required product will be vending out from the machine after selecting the item which is store inside the system. After analysing several vending machines, it is found that the proposed VOVM is more advanced than the other existing vending machine as it can select the items without any contact with the system. This VOVM may also be useful to this current pandemic situation of COVID-19 because of its unique features. The main objective is to upgrade the touchbased vending machine to voice operated system as one can select any items in the vending machine using voice command. This system will make it easier for the user to interact with the machine for everyone and also it can be deployed in every corner of the workplace, hospital, airport, schools, railway station, etc. for selling different kinds of products efficiently. © 2021 IEEE.