Control of virtual environments for young people with learning difficulties

New technologies and future trends

Numerous technologies have been introduced for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with neurologic disorders, offering the promise of early diagnosis, tailored and individualized interventions, improvement in quality of life, and restoration of neurologic function. Many of these technologies have become available commercially without having been evaluated by rigorous clinical trials and regulatory reviews, or at the least by peer review of results submitted for publication. A subset is intended to assess, assist, and monitor cognitive functions, motor skills, and autonomic functions and as such may be applicable to persons with developmental disabilities. Barriers that have previously limited the use of technologies by persons with neurodevelopmental disabilities are disappearing as new technologies that have the potential to substantially augment diagnosis and interventions to enhance the daily lives of persons with these disorders are emerging. While recent and future advances in technology have the potential to transform their lives, cautious and thoughtful evaluation is needed to ensure the technologies provide maximal value. As such, further work is needed to demonstrate feasibility, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness, and technologies should be designed to be optimized for individual use.

How do Computer Assistive Technologies Enhance Participation in Childhood Occupations for Children with Multiple and Complex Disabilities? A Review of the Current Literature

Functional impairments can limit the participation of children with disabilities in childhood occupations, which can be detrimental to their overall development and social and emotional wellbeing. The primary goal of occupational therapy for children with disabilities is to facilitate and enable active participation in meaningful occupations. Computer-based assistive technologies can be used as an enabler, allowing children with severe disabilities access to a variety of activities. The aim of this study was to establish how computer assistive technologies can have an impact on the participation of children with complex and multiple disabilities in childhood occupations and in the development of their occupational roles.

A comprehensive and systematic search and review of contemporary literature pertaining to computer use by children with severe and complex disabilities and its impact on a child's participation was undertaken. Articles included were critically appraised and analysed using a conceptual model of occupational therapy, with findings relating to the occupational performance areas of productivity, self-maintenance and leisure (a summary table is included). The findings supported the use of computer technologies for participation to a varying degree in all occupational performance areas, but were particularly positive in the areas of education, communication and play activities for children with disabilities.

A new design approach of user-centered design on a personal assistive bathing device for hemiplegia

PURPOSE

To move closer to the goal of independent living for stroke patients with hemiplegia, this study is to design an assistive bathing device approached from a User-Centred Design (UCD).

METHOD

Based on User-Centred Design methodology, a design process is adopted for this study. Observation and evaluation results from a Usability Context Analysis (UCA) are employed to improve the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) and the matrix for matching the environmental threats and opportunities with company's weaknesses and especially it's strengths (TOWS), resulting in two assistive device (AD) design methods named AD-SWOT and AD-TOWS. Therefore, a new assistive device design process (AD-Design process) is proposed. A case study of stroke patients is conducted to practically apply the AD-Design process to the design of assistive bathing devices for stroke patients.

RESULTS

By using the AD-Design process, three design concept orientations (AD-SO, AD-ST, AD-WO) were found for design concept generating from AD-TOWS. Four concepts for AD were decided and designed by the viewpoint of UCD. Finally, three ADs for bathing were tested by user-based assessment. And results showed the devices can help individuals clean case's body parts, such as case's backs and armpits that they were previously unable to clean independently.

CONCLUSIONS

AD-design process could help a product designer to generate suitable design approaching from UCD. In this study, three ADs (Back Cleaning Board, Feet Cleaning and Single-Sided Elastic Bathing Belt) were designed for a stroke patient's individual bathing.

Systematic evaluation of current control devices used by people with intellectual disabilities in non-immersive virtual environments

Virtual environments have a role to play in facilitating the acquisition of living skills in people with intellectual disabilities, improving their cognitive skills and providing them with entertainment. However, the currently recommended devices to allow navigation in and interaction with the environments are difficult to use. Using a methodology established in an earlier study, the study aims to systematically document the performance of users with the currently recommended devices in order to (i) inform the design of a usable control device or devices and (ii) act as a baseline against which they can be evaluated. 40 people with severe intellectual disabilities aged 21-67 years used four environments with an equal number of sessions with the different devices being evaluated. Results indicate that when forward movement is provided by the software using the mouse for both navigation and interaction allows better performance both initially and after exposure than using the fire button on the joystick. When the user had to initiate forward movement with the navigation device, the joystick allowed better performance than the arrows on the keyboard. Preventing slippage of the joystick base would make its use much easier and it is suggested that separate devices are retained for navigation and interaction.