Aplicación dos produtos de apoio de alta tecnoloxía no desempeño ocupacional das persoas con discapacidade visual: scoping review

[Resumo] Introdución: As persoas con discapacidade visual poden experimentar dificultades na realización de diferentes ocupacións cotiás. A tecnoloxía de apoio (TA) debe actuar coma un facilitador na participación desta poboación en actividades desexadas. Obxectivo: Coñecer se os produtos de apoio de alta tecnoloxía dan resposta ás dificultades no desempeño ocupacional coas que se atopan máis frecuentemente as persoas con discapacidade visual no seu día a día. Metodoloxía: Seguiuse unha metodoloxía de revisión de alcance. A busca bibliográfica foi levada a cabo nas bases de datos CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus e Web of Science. As variables temáticas establecéronse seguindo os compoñentes propostos polo Modelo da Actividade Humana e da Tecnoloxía de Apoio. Para a súa análise empregouse un enfoque mixto. Resultados: Na mostra incluíronse un total de 44 estudos. En moitos casos, non se especificou certa información relativa ás persoas participantes. A TA analizada centrouse principalmente na detección e na evitación de obstáculos, facilitando a mobilidade funcional. Os dispositivos reciben a información mediante sistemas de cámaras para transmitirlla á persoa por son. A TA está deseñada para contextos tanto interiores coma exteriores da vida diaria, e foi testada maiormente en ambientes reais. Conclusión: Os produtos de apoio de alta tecnoloxía están dirixidos principalmente a facilitar a mobilidade funcional, a participación social, e a lectura das persoas con discapacidade visual. En menor medida, abordaron a educación, o deporte e as tarefas do fogar. Así, non se centraron noutras actividades relevantes como a condución ou o emprego.[Resumen] Introducción: Las personas con discapacidad visual pueden experimentan dificultades en la realización de diferentes ocupaciones cotidianas. La tecnología de apoyo (TA) debe actuar como un facilitador en la participación de esta población en actividades deseadas. Objetivo: Conocer si los productos de apoyo de alta tecnología dan respuesta a las dificultades en el desempeño ocupacional con las que se encuentran más frecuentemente las personas con discapacidad visual en su día a día. Metodología: Se siguió una metodología de revisión de alcance. La búsqueda bibliográfica se llevó a cabo en las bases de datos CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus y Web of Science. Las variables temáticas se establecieron siguiendo los componentes propuestos por el Modelo de la Actividad Humana y la Tecnología de Apoyo. Para su análisis se empleó un enfoque mixto. Resultados: En la muestra se incluyeron un total de 44 estudios. En muchos casos, no se especificó cierta información relativa a las personas participantes. La TA analizada se centró principalmente en la detección y evitación de obstáculos, facilitando la movilidad funcional. Los dispositivos reciben la información mediante sistemas de cámaras para transmitírsela a la persona por audio. La TA está diseñada para contextos tanto interiores como exteriores de la vida diaria, y fue testada mayormente en ambientes reales. Conclusión: Los productos de apoyo de alta tecnología están dirigidos principalmente a facilitar la movilidad funcional, la participación social, y la lectura de las personas con discapacidad visual. En menor medida, abordaron la educación, el deporte, o las tareas del hogar. Así, no se centraron en otras actividades relevantes como la conducción o el empleo.[Abstract] Background: People with visual impairment can have difficulties in performing different daily occupations. Assistive technology (AT) should be an enabler in the participation of these population’s desired activities. Aim: To know if high-tech assistive devices respond to difficulties in the occupational performance that people with visual impairment most frequently experiment in their day-to-day lives. Methodology: A methodology of Scoping Review was used. The bibliographic search was carried out in the databases CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus y Web of Science. Thematic variables were established following the components proposed by the Human Activity Assistive Technology Model. For their analyses, a mixed methods approach was used. Results: A total of 44 studies were included in the sample. In many cases, certain information regarding the participants was not specified. The analyzed AT focused mainly on the detection and avoidance of obstacles, facilitating functional mobility. The devices receive the information through camera systems to transmit it to the person by audio. The AT is designed for indoor and outdoor contexts of everyday life, and it was mostly tested in real-world environments. Conclusion: The high-tech assistive devices are primarily aimed at facilitating the functional mobility, social participation, and reading of people with visual impairment. To a lesser extent, they addressed education, sports, or housework. However, they did not focus on other relevant activities such as driving or working.Traballo fin de mestrado (UDC.FCS). Asistencia e investigación sanitaria. Especialidade en Reeducación Funcional, Autonomía Persoal e Calidade de Vida. Curso 2020-202

Pre-Travel Training And Real-Time Guidance System For People With Disabilities In Indoor Environments

Public transportation provides people with access to education, employment, health and community activities. However, navigating inside public hubs for people with disabilities such as cognitive or mobility impairments can be very challenging and dangerous. With the rapid development of digital technology such as Smartphones and sensors, there are unprecedented opportunities to assist people with disabilities to conquer these challenges. In this research, we aim to create a two-step indoor navigation solution for users with different mobility and orientation abilities. In the first step, we developed a virtual reality-based pre-travel training module that enables users to familiarize themselves with the virtual environment which represents the physical environment. After users feel confident and familiar enough with the environment, they proceed to the second step in which they visit the physical environment and use our real-time navigation assistance module. The pre-travel training module is developed using a Unity-based 3D game and includes a virtual indoor environment that represents the physical environment. The game provides a navigation function that highlights the path between the user location and the chosen destination. Considering the unique needs of cognitive impaired users, we designed action training modules in the game environment which train the user to use the ticket machine, fare gate and call boxes. Such training modules help cognitive impaired users familiarize themselves with the environment as well as gain confidence to experience the physical environment. When the users are ready to visit the physical environment, they use our real-time navigation assistance module which includes the same 3D virtual environment developed for the pre-travel training module. This approach is particularly important for people with cognitive impairment since they cannot organize navigation cues effectively. Using the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) infrastructure in the environment, our localization algorithm can track the user location in real-time. Subsequently, the user’s location will be integrated into the game environment so that the navigation path between the user’s current location and the selected destination can be generated and visualized by the user on the fly

5G: 2020 and Beyond

The future society would be ushered in a new communication era with the emergence of 5G. 5G would be significantly different, especially, in terms of architecture and operation in comparison with the previous communication generations (4G, 3G...). This book discusses the various aspects of the architecture, operation, possible challenges, and mechanisms to overcome them. Further, it supports users? interac- tion through communication devices relying on Human Bond Communication and COmmunication-NAvigation- SENsing- SErvices (CONASENSE).Topics broadly covered in this book are; • Wireless Innovative System for Dynamically Operating Mega Communications (WISDOM)• Millimeter Waves and Spectrum Management• Cyber Security• Device to Device Communicatio

5G: 2020 and Beyond

The future society would be ushered in a new communication era with the emergence of 5G. 5G would be significantly different, especially, in terms of architecture and operation in comparison with the previous communication generations (4G, 3G...). This book discusses the various aspects of the architecture, operation, possible challenges, and mechanisms to overcome them. Further, it supports users? interac- tion through communication devices relying on Human Bond Communication and COmmunication-NAvigation- SENsing- SErvices (CONASENSE).Topics broadly covered in this book are; • Wireless Innovative System for Dynamically Operating Mega Communications (WISDOM)• Millimeter Waves and Spectrum Management• Cyber Security• Device to Device Communicatio

An autonomous navigational system using GPS and computer vision for futuristic road traffic

Navigational service is one of the most essential dependency towards any transport system and at present, there are various revolutionary approaches that has contributed towards its improvement. This paper has reviewed the global positioning system (GPS) and computer vision based navigational system and found that there is a large gap between the actual demand of navigation and what currently exists. Therefore, the proposed study discusses about a novel framework of an autonomous navigation system that uses GPS as well as computer vision considering the case study of futuristic road traffic system. An analytical model is built up where the geo-referenced data from GPS is integrated with the signals captured from the visual sensors are considered to implement this concept. The simulated outcome of the study shows that proposed study offers enhanced accuracy as well as faster processing in contrast to existing approaches

Artificial intelligence within the interplay between natural and artificial computation:Advances in data science, trends and applications

Artificial intelligence and all its supporting tools, e.g. machine and deep learning in computational intelligence-based systems, are rebuilding our society (economy, education, life-style, etc.) and promising a new era for the social welfare state. In this paper we summarize recent advances in data science and artificial intelligence within the interplay between natural and artificial computation. A review of recent works published in the latter field and the state the art are summarized in a comprehensive and self-contained way to provide a baseline framework for the international community in artificial intelligence. Moreover, this paper aims to provide a complete analysis and some relevant discussions of the current trends and insights within several theoretical and application fields covered in the essay, from theoretical models in artificial intelligence and machine learning to the most prospective applications in robotics, neuroscience, brain computer interfaces, medicine and society, in general.BMS - Pfizer(U01 AG024904). Spanish Ministry of Science, projects: TIN2017-85827-P, RTI2018-098913-B-I00, PSI2015-65848-R, PGC2018-098813-B-C31, PGC2018-098813-B-C32, RTI2018-101114-B-I, TIN2017-90135-R, RTI2018-098743-B-I00 and RTI2018-094645-B-I00; the FPU program (FPU15/06512, FPU17/04154) and Juan de la Cierva (FJCI-2017–33022). Autonomous Government of Andalusia (Spain) projects: UMA18-FEDERJA-084. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria of Galicia: ED431C2017/12, accreditation 2016–2019, ED431G/08, ED431C2018/29, Comunidad de Madrid, Y2018/EMT-5062 and grant ED431F2018/02. PPMI – a public – private partnership – is funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and funding partners, including Abbott, Biogen Idec, F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., GE Healthcare, Genentech and Pfizer Inc

Wearable Sensors in the Evaluation of Gait and Balance in Neurological Disorders

The aging population and the increased prevalence of neurological diseases have raised the issue of gait and balance disorders as a major public concern worldwide. Indeed, gait and balance disorders are responsible for a high healthcare and economic burden on society, thus, requiring new solutions to prevent harmful consequences. Recently, wearable sensors have provided new challenges and opportunities to address this issue through innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Accordingly, the book “Wearable Sensors in the Evaluation of Gait and Balance in Neurological Disorders” collects the most up-to-date information about the objective evaluation of gait and balance disorders, by means of wearable biosensors, in patients with various types of neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and cerebellar ataxia. By adopting wearable technologies, the sixteen original research articles and reviews included in this book offer an updated overview of the most recent approaches for the objective evaluation of gait and balance disorders