6,419 research outputs found
Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.
Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation
Transformational government and assistive web base technologies
Transformational government has been on the European agenda for several years. However, progress towards realising the full potential of ICT to transform public services for older adults with age related cognitive impairments has been very limited. Highlighting such limitations this paper demonstrates how assistive web base technologies can be developed to improve the public services for older adults with age related cognitive impairments. However the paper argues that these transformations can be obstructed if there is no strong leadership and political commitment from people at many levels in public sectors and governments
Development and Testing of a Low Vision Product Selection Instrument (LV-PSI): A Mixed-Methods Approach
In Canada, it is conservatively estimated that $46 million is lost per annum from low vision (LV) assistive technology device (ATD) abandonment alone. The proper matching of the person and the technology during the selection process has been theorized as necessary to mitigate inappropriate abandonment. In the current dissertation, a mixed-methods approach with qualitative and quantitative study components was used to develop and test a LV product selection instrument (LV-PSI) that may help with the matching process.
The key qualitative aspect of the study included two qualitative research sessions with LV participants (N=10). Each session was made up of two data collection modes of a modified nominal group technique and focus group discussions. Content analysis and a grounded theory approach resulted in the emergence of three major themes for LV product selection: (1) product attribute, (2) personal compatibility, and (3) meaning.
Results from the qualitative research were used to generate items and content for the LV-PSI. A testing of the internal consistency (Cronbachâs coefficient alpha) and factor structure of the instrument (principle component analysis) occurred using instrument scores obtained from LV participants (N=152). A four component solution resulted in a 21-item LV-PSI. The four components were theorized as congruent with the factors of: Product (visual) attribute, meaning, independence, and personal compatibility. The alpha values were 0.77, 0.63, 0.63 and 0.59, respectively. Future research to further examine the LV-PSIâs content and construct validity, score interpretations, format and predictive value was proposed
How a Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review of NIDILRRâs 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 âtotal approach to rehabilitationâ, 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 1970âs, 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
In-home and remote use of robotic body surrogates by people with profound motor deficits
By controlling robots comparable to the human body, people with profound
motor deficits could potentially perform a variety of physical tasks for
themselves, improving their quality of life. The extent to which this is
achievable has been unclear due to the lack of suitable interfaces by which to
control robotic body surrogates and a dearth of studies involving substantial
numbers of people with profound motor deficits. We developed a novel, web-based
augmented reality interface that enables people with profound motor deficits to
remotely control a PR2 mobile manipulator from Willow Garage, which is a
human-scale, wheeled robot with two arms. We then conducted two studies to
investigate the use of robotic body surrogates. In the first study, 15 novice
users with profound motor deficits from across the United States controlled a
PR2 in Atlanta, GA to perform a modified Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and a
simulated self-care task. Participants achieved clinically meaningful
improvements on the ARAT and 12 of 15 participants (80%) successfully completed
the simulated self-care task. Participants agreed that the robotic system was
easy to use, was useful, and would provide a meaningful improvement in their
lives. In the second study, one expert user with profound motor deficits had
free use of a PR2 in his home for seven days. He performed a variety of
self-care and household tasks, and also used the robot in novel ways. Taking
both studies together, our results suggest that people with profound motor
deficits can improve their quality of life using robotic body surrogates, and
that they can gain benefit with only low-level robot autonomy and without
invasive interfaces. However, methods to reduce the rate of errors and increase
operational speed merit further investigation.Comment: 43 Pages, 13 Figure
A Participatory Design Framework For Customisable Assistive Technology
High product costs and device abandonment negatively affect people with disabilities who require Assistive Technology (AT), and poor product design is a root cause. The purpose of this research is to develop and demonstrate a participatory design framework for customisable AT, which addresses the need for low-cost assistive products that satisfy a broad range of consumersâ needs. This framework addresses two main gaps in the literature. First, user involvement in the design process of medical and rehabilitative products helps create products that are more effective but, although methods to involve users exist, there are currently scant techniques to translate the research data into design solution concepts. Second, adaptive mass customisation offers a way to reduce a productâs cost by making it useful to more people and adaptable to a userâs changing needs. Although the creation of one-off, tailored AT devices is discussed in the literature, there are no methods to support the development of customisable or adaptable AT.
Two-phases of participatory design research are described in the thesis, and make up the body of the design framework. First, a Delphi study is used to facilitate AT professionals working with individuals with disabilities in reaching a consensus on important design issues relating to a specific type of AT. An adapted morphological matrix is then presented as a novel way of applying the results of a Delphi study to concept generation. The second phase facilitates the involvement of AT users with disabilities in a series of participatory design workshops to create a final product design and prototype. The research approach was exploratory and Assistive Technology Computer Input Devices (ATCIDs) were employed as a sample technology domain to develop and substantiate the framework. Three key contributions resulted from this work; a wide range of problems and design issues related to ATCIDs; a method for using touch panel technology as a customisable ATCID; and, most pertinent due to its transferability, a participatory design framework for customisable AT with recommendations for participatory design practice involving individuals with diverse disabilities
âItâs not just hacking for the sake of itâ: a qualitative study of health innovatorsâ views on patient-driven open innovations, quality and safety
Background Open do-it-yourself (DIY) health
innovations raise new dilemmas for patient-oriented
and service-oriented scholars and healthcare providers.
Our study aimed to generate practical insights into
quality and safety issues to patient care raised by two
volunteer-run, open DIY solutions: Nightscout Project
(patient-driven, open-source software for type 1 diabetes
management) and e-NABLE (volunteers who design and
three-dimensionally print upper-limb assistive devices).
To this end, we examined the views of health innovators
who are knowledgeable about medical devices standards
and regulations.
Methods We applied a multimedia-based, dataelicitation technique to conduct indepth interviews with
a diversified sample of 31 health innovators practising
in two Canadian provinces (Quebec and Ontario). An
exploratory thematic analysis approach was used to
identify respondentsâ reasoning processes and compare
their overall judgements of Nightscout and e-NABLE.
Results Respondents pondered the following quality
and safety issues: importance of the need addressed;
accessibility; volunteersâ ability to develop and maintain
a safe solution of good quality; risks involved for users;
consequences of not using the solution; and liability.
Overall, innovators see Nightscout as a high-risk DIY
solution that requires expert involvement and e-NABLE
as a low-risk one that fills a hard-to-meet gap.
Conclusion Health innovators generally support
patient-driven initiatives but also call for the involvement
of professionals who possess complementary skills
and knowledge. Our findings provide a list of issues
healthcare providers may discuss with patients during
clinical consultations to document potential risks and
benefits of open DIY solutions. To inform new policy
approaches, we propose the development of publicly
funded umbrella organisations to act as intermediaries
between open DIY solutions and regulatory bodies to
help them meet quality and safety standard
Designing and Evaluating Accessible E-Learning for Students with Visual Impairments in K-12 Computing Education
This dissertation explores the pathways for making K-12 computing education more accessible for blind or visually impaired (BVI) learners. As computer science (CS) expands into K-12 education, more concerted efforts are required to ensure all students have equitable access to opportunities to pursue a career in computing. To determine their viability with BVI learners, I conducted three studies to assess current accessibility in CS curricula, materials, and learning environments. Study one was interviews with visually impaired developers; study two was interviews with K-12 teachers of visually impaired students; study three was a remote observation within a computer science course. My exploration revealed that most of CS education lacks the necessary accommodations for BVI students to learn at an equitable pace with sighted students. However, electronic learning (e-learning) was a theme that showed to provide the most accessible learning experience for BVI students, although even there, usability and accessibility challenges were present in online learning platforms.
My dissertation engaged in a human-centered approach across three studies towards designing, developing, and evaluating an online learning management system (LMS) with the critical design elements to improve navigation and interaction with BVI users. Study one was a survey exploring the perception of readiness for taking online courses between sighted and visually impaired students. The findings from the survey fueled study two, which employed participatory design with storytelling with K-12 teachers and BVI students to learn more about their experiences using LMSs and how they imagine such systems to be more accessible. The findings led to developing the accessible learning content management system (ALCMS), a web-based platform for managing courses, course content, and course roster, evaluated in study three with high school students, both sighted and visually impaired, to determine its usability and accessibility. This research contributes with recommendations for including features and design elements to improve accessibility in existing LMSs and building new ones
- âŠ