Development and Evaluation of an Assistive Prompting System for People with Traumatic Brain Injury

Cognitive deficits in executive functioning are among the most frequent sequelae after traumatic brain injury (TBI) at all levels of severity. Due to these functional deficits in cognition, individuals with TBI often experience difficulties in performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), especially those IADLs that involve a sequence of goal-directed actions. We obtained updated information on the use of assistive technology for cognition (ATC) through a survey study among twenty-nine participants with TBI. Results highlighted the needs to support the development and evaluation of ATC in assisting multi-step tasks. Cooking tasks were selected as a representative for they are cognitively demanding and have been identified essential for living independently. With the recent advance in sensing and smart home technologies, it’s possible to provide context-aware prompts with minimal user inputs. However, limited information is known regarding what types of context-aware prompts are really needed by people with TBI in completing cooking tasks. We compared the effectiveness and usability of current available prompting methods (e.g. paper-based prompting method and user-controlled method) among ten individuals with TBI in their home kitchens. We categorized the nature of problems faced by end-users with both prompting methods in cooking tasks and proposed relevant context-aware solutions. A test-bed Cueing Kitchen with sensing and prompting elements was developed to address these identified needs and to evaluate the feasibility of context-aware ATC interventions in assisting people with TBI with kitchen activities. Sixteen individuals with TBI participated in the study. Results showed that comparing to the conventional user-controlled method, the automatic method decreased the amount of external assistance required by participants, received higher ratings in perceived ease-of-use, and was helpful for decreasing user stress levels. However, the user-controlled method showed strengths in offering participants more flexibility and control on the timing of prompts. The contributions from this dissertation not only developed a context-aware prompting testbed and evaluated the feasibility of an automatic system, but also advanced the guidelines and potential solutions for future development of assistive prompting technology for people with cognitive impairments in sequential tasks

Analisis Performansi Pelatihan Keterampilan Kerja dan Tingkat Stress dalam Menyelesaikan Cognitive Task pada Siswa Berkebutuhan Khusus Menggunakan Video Virtual Reality

Gangguan kognitif merupakan kondisi dimana dalam kehidupan sehari-sehari seseorang mengalami kesulitan dalam mengingat, mempelajari hal-hal baru, berkonsentrasi, atau membuat keputusan. Penderita gangguan kognitif tetap dapat melakukan kegiatan dengan bantuan salah satunya teknologi perangkat virtual reality. Penggunaan virtual reality dapat membantu simulasi proses interaksi juga melatih kemandirian. VR dapat membantu proses perakitan barang tertentu seperti lego. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis bagaimana para siswa SLB menyelesaikan penyusunan lego secara manual dan menggunakan VR. Melibatkan 5 siswa SLB dengan rentang usia 16-18 tahun yang memiliki minat dan bakat. Pengumpulan data tingkat stress menggunakan Polar H10, kuisioner NASA-TLX, hingga pengukuran waktu penyusunan. Hasil dari penelitian diantaranya bahwa waktu pengerjaan secara manual lebih cepat yaitu 94.40 dibanding VR sebesar 101.80 detik. Tingkat stress menggunakan VR memiliki nilai mean SDNN 70.72 ms, sedangkan nilai mean SDNN manual hanya 63.16 ms. Nilai SDNN metode VR lebih besar menunjukkan tingkat stress yang lebih rendah dibanding metode manual . Berdasarkan kuisioner NASA-TLX, didapatkan hasil bahwa baik metode VR maupun manual memiliki beban kerja kategori ringan dengan nilai WWL 32.53 dan 35.67. Menunjukkan bahwa beban kerja sedikit lebih berat menggunakan metode manual dibanding VR. Beban kerja metode manual lebih tinggi dibandingkan metode VR. Mempertimbangkan penggunaan metode VR dalam membantu metode penyusunan sesuatu dapat dipertimbangkan untuk memudahkan proses pembelajaran pada siswa SLB

How a Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review of NIDILRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their conception by a panel of the National Academy of Science in 1970, these centers were intended to take a “total approach to rehabilitation”, combining medicine, engineering, and related science, to improve the quality of life of individuals with a disability. Here, we review the scope, achievements, and ongoing projects of an unbiased sample of 19 currently active or recently terminated RERCs. Specifically, for each center, we briefly explain the needs it targets, summarize key historical advances, identify emerging innovations, and consider future directions. Our assessment from this review is that the RERC program indeed involves a multidisciplinary approach, with 36 professional fields involved, although 70% of research and development staff are in engineering fields, 23% in clinical fields, and only 7% in basic science fields; significantly, 11% of the professional staff have a disability related to their research. We observe that the RERC program has substantially diversified the scope of its work since the 1970’s, addressing more types of disabilities using more technologies, and, in particular, often now focusing on information technologies. RERC work also now often views users as integrated into an interdependent society through technologies that both people with and without disabilities co-use (such as the internet, wireless communication, and architecture). In addition, RERC research has evolved to view users as able at improving outcomes through learning, exercise, and plasticity (rather than being static), which can be optimally timed. We provide examples of rehabilitation technology innovation produced by the RERCs that illustrate this increasingly diversifying scope and evolving perspective. We conclude by discussing growth opportunities and possible future directions of the RERC program

Accessible Ubiquitous Services for Supporting Daily Activities: A Case Study with Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Ubiquitous environments have considerable potential to provide services supporting daily activities (using public transportation to and from workplace, using ATM machines, selecting and purchasing goods in ticketing or vending machines, etc.) in order to assist people with disabilities. Nevertheless, the ubiquitous service providers generally supply generic user interfaces which are not usually accessible for all potential end users. In this article, a case study to verify the adequacy of the user interfaces automatically generated by the Egoki system for two supporting ubiquitous services adapted to young adults with moderate intellectual disabilities was presented. The task completion times and the level of assistance required by participants when using the interfaces were analyzed. Participants were able to access services through a tablet and successfully complete the tasks, regardless of their level of expertise and familiarity with the service. Moreover, results indicate that their performance and confidence improved with practice, as they required fewer direct verbal and pointer cues to accomplish tasks. By applying observational methods during the experimental sessions, several potential improvements for the automated interface generation process were also detected.This research work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Spanish Government and by the European Regional Development Fund [projects TIN2014-52665-C2-1-R and TIN2017-85409-P], and by the Basque Government, Department of Education, Universities and Research under grant [IT980-16]

MindMate: a single case experimental design study of a reminder system for people with dementia

Background: Prospective memory difficulties are commonly reported in people with dementia. The evidence supporting the use of prospective memory devices among the dementia population remains limited. MindMate is a recently developed smart device application that aims to support individuals with a diagnosis of dementia, improving self-management skills and quality of life. Aims: This study investigated the effectiveness and usability of the reminder tool on the MindMate application as a memory aid. Method: Three participants with a diagnosis of mild Alzheimer’s disease were recruited to this multiple baseline single case experimental design study. Partners of the participants recorded their performance on everyday tasks on weekly monitoring forms during a baseline phase (for between five and seven weeks) and during the intervention phase (five weeks) whilst using MindMate. Results: Two participants successfully used the app throughout the intervention weeks and gave positive usability ratings. Tau-U analysis showed a significant increase in memory performance between baseline and intervention phase (Tau-U = 1, 0.94, p<0.01). A third participant withdrew from the intervention phase following difficulties turning off the reminders and frustrations with the reminder alert sound. Conclusions: The use of the MindMate app was feasible for people with dementia in the community. It was effective compared to practice as usual, with participants reporting intentions to use in the future. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed

Designing for Experiences in Blended Reality Environments for People with Dementia

Blended Reality environments have the potential to provide scalable solutions that are affordable, adaptable and easily deployable to support people with dementia. Use of these technologies is associated with experience of presence which is an experience with technologically mediated perceptions that generates a feeling of being there and the illusion of non-mediation. Our study examines what constitutes an experience of presence for people with dementia when they interact with MRTs. An observational study with ten participants (MoCA = 18 to 23, Age = 63 to 88 years) played a game of Tangram on Osmo. Six of these participants also played Young Conker on HoloLens. The experiences of the participants in the digital space, the physical space, and their attention crossover between the two spaces were coded in Noldus Observer XT 14.1. The study found four main themes that have an impact on the experience of presence in PwD – correspondences, effortless access to physical and digital content, awareness of reality and emergence. Correspondences between physical and digital spaces require PwD to have constant information about the state and nature of physical and digital content. The transitions between physical and digital should be seamless. PwD demonstrated positive experiences with Osmo, an augmented Virtuality technology while their experience with HoloLens, augmented reality technology was negative. The factors impacting experience of presence were prominent in Osmo while they were mostly absent in HoloLens throughout the game play. The outcomes of this study have resulted in a set of recommendations and guidelines for designers to design correspondences for experience of presence. We are currently working on developing prototypes using these guidelines for evaluations with PwD.AGE-WEL

A RGBD-Based interactive system for gaming-driven rehabilitation of upper limbs

Current physiotherapy services may not be effective or suitable for certain patients due to lack of motivation, poor adherence to exercises, insufficient supervision and feedback or, in the worst case, refusal to continue with the rehabilitation plan. This paper introduces a novel approach for rehabilitation of upper limbs through KineActiv, a platform based on Microsoft Kinect v2 and developed in Unity Engine. KineActiv proposes exergames to encourage patients to perform rehabilitation exercises prescribed by a specialist, controls the patient's performance, and corrects execution errors on the fly. KineActiv comprises a web platform where the physiotherapist can review session results, monitor patient health, and adjust rehabilitation routines. We recruited 10 patients for assessing the system usability as well as the system performance. Results show that KineActiv is a usable, enjoyable and reliable system, that does not cause any negative feelings