1,944 research outputs found
A Methodology for Creating an Adapted Command Language for Driving an Intelligent Wheelchair
Intelligent wheelchairs (IW) are technologies that can increase the autonomy and independence of elderly people and patients suffering from some kind of disability. Nowadays the intelligent wheelchairs and the human-machine studies are very active research areas. This paper presents a methodology and a Data Analysis System (DAS) that provides an adapted command language to an user of the IW. This command language is a set of input sequences that can be created using inputs from an input device or a combination of the inputs available in a multimodal interface. The results show that there are statistical evidences to affirm that the mean of the evaluation of the DAS generated command language is higher than the mean of the evaluation of the command language recommended by the health specialist (p value = 0.002) with a sample of 11 cerebral palsy users. This work demonstrates that it is possible to adapt an intelligent wheelchair interface to the user even when the users present heterogeneous and severe physical constraints
Adapted control methods for cerebral palsy users of an intelligent wheelchair
The development of an intelligent wheelchair (IW) platform that may be easily adapted to any commercial electric powered wheelchair and aid any person with special mobility needs is the main objective of this project. To be able to achieve this main objective, three distinct control methods were implemented in the IW: manual, shared and automatic. Several algorithms were developed for each of these control methods. This paper presents three of the most significant of those algorithms with emphasis on the shared control method. Experiments were performed by users suffering from cerebral palsy, using a realistic simulator, in order to validate the approach. The experiments revealed the importance of using shared (aided) controls for users with severe disabilities. The patients still felt having complete control over the wheelchair movement when using a shared control at a 50% level and thus this control type was very well accepted. Thus it may be used in intelligent wheelchairs since it is able to correct the direction in case of involuntary movements of the user but still gives him a sense of complete control over the IW movement
Classificação de pacientes para adaptação de cadeira de rodas inteligente
Doutoramento em Engenharia InformáticaA importância e preocupação dedicadas à autonomia e independência das
pessoas idosas e dos pacientes que sofrem de algum tipo de deficiência tem
vindo a aumentar significativamente ao longo das últimas décadas. As
cadeiras de rodas inteligentes (CRI) são tecnologias que podem ajudar este
tipo de população a aumentar a sua autonomia, sendo atualmente uma área
de investigação bastante ativa. Contudo, a adaptação das CRIs a pacientes
específicos e a realização de experiências com utilizadores reais são assuntos
de estudo ainda muito pouco aprofundados.
A cadeira de rodas inteligente, desenvolvida no âmbito do Projeto IntellWheels,
é controlada a alto nível utilizando uma interface multimodal flexível,
recorrendo a comandos de voz, expressões faciais, movimentos de cabeça e
através de joystick. Este trabalho teve como finalidade a adaptação automática
da CRI atendendo às características dos potenciais utilizadores.
Foi desenvolvida uma metodologia capaz de criar um modelo do utilizador. A
investigação foi baseada num sistema de recolha de dados que permite obter
e armazenar dados de voz, expressões faciais, movimentos de cabeça e do
corpo dos pacientes. A utilização da CRI pode ser efetuada em diferentes
situações em ambiente real e simulado e um jogo sério foi desenvolvido
permitindo especificar um conjunto de tarefas a ser realizado pelos
utilizadores. Os dados foram analisados recorrendo a métodos de extração de
conhecimento, de modo a obter o modelo dos utilizadores. Usando os
resultados obtidos pelo sistema de classificação, foi criada uma metodologia
que permite selecionar a melhor interface e linguagem de comando da cadeira
para cada utilizador.
A avaliação para validação da abordagem foi realizada no âmbito do Projeto
FCT/RIPD/ADA/109636/2009 - "IntellWheels - Intelligent Wheelchair with
Flexible Multimodal Interface". As experiências envolveram um vasto conjunto
de indivíduos que sofrem de diversos níveis de deficiência, em estreita
colaboração com a Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Saúde do Porto e a
Associação do Porto de Paralisia Cerebral. Os dados recolhidos através das
experiências de navegação na CRI foram acompanhados por questionários
preenchidos pelos utilizadores. Estes dados foram analisados estatisticamente,
a fim de provar a eficácia e usabilidade na adequação da interface da CRI ao
utilizador. Os resultados mostraram, em ambiente simulado, um valor de
usabilidade do sistema de 67, baseado na opinião de uma amostra de
pacientes que apresentam os graus IV e V (os mais severos) de Paralisia
Cerebral. Foi também demonstrado estatisticamente que a interface atribuída
automaticamente pela ferramenta tem uma avaliação superior à sugerida pelos
técnicos de Terapia Ocupacional, mostrando a possibilidade de atribuir
automaticamente uma linguagem de comando adaptada a cada utilizador.
Experiências realizadas com distintos modos de controlo revelaram a
preferência dos utilizadores por um controlo compartilhado com um nível de
ajuda associado ao nível de constrangimento do paciente. Em conclusão, este
trabalho demonstra que é possível adaptar automaticamente uma CRI ao
utilizador com claros benefícios a nível de usabilidade e segurança.The importance and concern given to the autonomy and independence of
elderly people and patients suffering from some kind of disability has been
growing significantly in the last few decades. Intelligent wheelchairs (IW) are
technologies that can increase the autonomy and independence of this kind of
population and are nowadays a very active research area. However, the
adaptations to users’ specificities and experiments with real users are topics
that lack deeper studies.
The intelligent wheelchair, developed in the context of the IntellWheels project,
is controlled at a high-level through a flexible multimodal interface, using voice
commands, facial expressions, head movements and joystick as its main input
modalities. This work intended to develop a system enabling the automatic
adaptation, to the user characteristics, of the previously developed intelligent
wheelchair.
A methodology was created enabling the creation of a user model. The
research was based on the development of a data gathering system, enabling
the collection and storage of data from voice commands, facial expressions,
head and body movements from several patients with distinct disabilities such
as Cerebral Palsy. The wheelchair can be used in different situations in real
and simulated environments and a serious game was developed where
different tasks may be performed by users.
Data was analysed using knowledge discovery methods in order to create an
automatic patient classification system. Based on the classification system, a
methodology was developed enabling to select the best wheelchair interface
and command language for each patient.
Evaluation was performed in the context of Project FCT/RIPD/ADA/109636/
2009 – “IntellWheels – Intelligent Wheelchair with Flexible Multimodal
Interface”. Experiments were conducted, using a large set of patients suffering
from severe physical constraints in close collaboration with Escola Superior de
Tecnologia de Saúde do Porto and Associação do Porto de Paralisia Cerebral.
The experiments using the intelligent wheelchair were followed by user
questionnaires. The results were statistically analysed in order to prove the
effectiveness and usability of the adaptation of the Intelligent Wheelchair
multimodal interface to the user characteristics. The results obtained in a
simulated environment showed a 67 score on the system usability scale based
in the opinion of a sample of cerebral palsy patients with the most severe cases
IV and V of the Gross Motor Function Scale. It was also statistically
demonstrated that the data analysis system advised the use of an adapted
interface with higher evaluation than the one suggested by the occupational
therapists, showing the usefulness of defining a command language adapted to
each user. Experiments conducted with distinct control modes revealed the
users' preference for a shared control with an aid level taking into account the
level of constraint of the patient. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that it is
possible to adapt an intelligent wheelchair to the user with clear usability and
safety benefits
Empowering and assisting natural human mobility: The simbiosis walker
This paper presents the complete development of the Simbiosis Smart Walker. The device is equipped with a set of sensor subsystems to acquire user-machine interaction forces and the temporal evolution of user's feet during gait. The authors present an adaptive filtering technique used for the identification and separation of different components found on the human-machine interaction forces. This technique allowed isolating the components related with the navigational commands and developing a Fuzzy logic controller to guide the device. The Smart Walker was clinically validated at the Spinal Cord Injury Hospital of Toledo - Spain, presenting great acceptability by spinal chord injury patients and clinical staf
Multimodal interface for an intelligent wheelchair
Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Universidade do Porto. Faculdade de Engenharia. 201
Intelligent wheelchair simulation
Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores - Major Automação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200
A serious games platform for cognitive rehabilitation with preliminary evaluation
In recent years Serious Games have evolved substantially, solving problems in diverse areas. In particular, in Cognitive Rehabilitation, Serious Games assume a relevant role. Traditional cognitive therapies are often considered repetitive and discouraging for patients and Serious Games can be used to create more dynamic rehabilitation processes, holding patients' attention throughout the process and motivating them during their road to recovery. This paper reviews Serious Games and user interfaces in rehabilitation area and details a Serious Games platform for Cognitive Rehabilitation that includes a set of features such as: natural and multimodal user interfaces and social features (competition, collaboration, and handicapping) which can contribute to augment the motivation of patients during the rehabilitation process. The web platform was tested with healthy subjects. Results of this preliminary evaluation show the motivation and the interest of the participants by playing the games.- This work has been supported by FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia in the scope of the projects: PEst-UID/CEC/00319/2015 and PEst-UID/CEC/00027/2015. The authors would like to thank also all the volunteers that participated in the study
Uma arquitetura de telerreabilitação baseada em realidade aumentada para apoiar o treinamento de usuários de cadeiras de rodas motorizadas
Many people worldwide have been experimenting a decrease in their mobility as a result of aging, accidents and degenerative diseases. In many cases, a Powered Wheelchair (PW) is an alternative help. Currently, in Brazil, patients can receive a PW from the Unified Health System, following prescription criteria. However, they do not have an appropriate previous training for driving the PW. Consequently, users might suffer accidents since a customized training protocol is not available. Nevertheless, due to financial and/or health limitations, many users are unable to attend a rehabilitation center. To overcome these limitations, we developed an Augmented Reality (AR) Telerehabilitation System Architecture based on the Power Mobility Road Test (PMRT), for supporting PW user’s training. In this system, the therapists can remotely customize and evaluate training tasks and the user can perform the training in safer conditions. Video stream and data transfer between each environment were made possible through UDP (User Datagram Protocol). To evaluate and present the system architecture potential, a preliminary test was conducted with 3 spinal cord injury participants. They performed 3 basic training protocols defined by a therapist. The following metrics were adopted for evaluation: number of control commands; elapsed time; number of collisions; biosignals and a questionary was used to evaluate system features by participants. Results demonstrate the specific needs of individuals using a PW, thanks to adopted (qualitative and emotional) metrics. Also, the results have shown the potential of the training system with customizable protocols to fulfill these needs. User’s evaluation demonstrates that the combination of AR techniques with PMRT adaptations, increases user’s well-being after training sessions. Furthermore, a training experience helps users to overcome their displacement problems, as well as for appointing challenges before large scale use. The proposed system architecture allows
further studies on telerehabilitation of PW users.CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorTese (Doutorado)Muitas pessoas em todo o mundo estão vivenciando uma diminuição de sua mobili- dade como resultado de envelhecimento, acidentes e doenças degenerativas. Em muitos casos, uma cadeira de rodas motorizada (CRM) é uma ajuda alternativa. Atualmente, no Brasil, os pacientes podem receber uma CRM do Sistema Único de Saúde, seguindo os critérios de prescrição. No entanto, eles não têm um treinamento prévio apropriado para dirigir a CRM. Conseqüentemente, os usuários podem sofrer acidentes, pois um protocolo de treinamento personalizado não está disponível. Além disto, devido a limi- tações financeiras e / ou de saúde, muitos usuários não podem comparecer a um centro de reabilitação. Para superar essas limitações, desenvolvemos uma arquitetura de sistema de telereabilitação com Realidade Aumentada (RA) baseado no PMRT (Power Mobility Road Test), para apoiar o treinamento de usuários de CRM. Nesse sistema, os terapeutas podem personalizar e avaliar remotamente as tarefas de treinamento e o usuário pode realizar o treinamento em condições mais seguras. O fluxo de vídeo e a transferência de dados entre cada ambiente foram possíveis através do UDP (User Datagram Protocol). Para avaliar e apresentar o potencial da arquitetura do sistema, foi realizado um teste preliminar de três participantes com lesão medular. Eles realizaram três protocolos básicos de treinamento definidos por um terapeuta. As seguintes métricas adotadas para avaliação foram: número de comandos de controle; tempo decorrido; número de colisões e biossinais. Além disso, um questionário foi usado para avaliar os recursos do sistema. Os resultados demonstram as necessidades específicas dos indivíduos que usam uma CRM, graças às métricas adotadas (qualitativas e emocionais). Além disso, os resultados mostraram o potencial do sistema de treinamento com protocolos personalizáveis para atender a essas necessidades. A avaliação do usuário demonstra que a combinação de técnicas de RA com adaptações PMRT aumenta o bem-estar do usuário após as sessões de treinamento. Além disso, esta experiência de treinamento ajuda os usuários a superar seus problemas de deslocamento, bem como a apontar desafios antes do uso em larga escala. A arquitetura de sistema proposta, permite estudos adicionais sobre a telerreabilitação de usuários de CRM
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