My interest is in applying a domain model to help elicit personal requirements for the problem of community travel for people with cognitive impairments. The domain model I took advantage of is the ACT model, which is embedded in the tool I designed for defining required prompts for travel. I set up a study to look at the use of the domain model to help travel-planners generate personalized prompts for a traveler. My goal is to better understand the mechanisms of running a human-performance study and to get a first look at how the domain model can be understood by travel-planners. The study shows that most participants prefer the ACT-based tool to free-thinking and writing down prompts. I found out that the tool helps participants define more organized and concise prompts, but not necessarily a higher number of prompts, compared to the free-think approach. The tool captures prompts for some steps that are neglected while free-thinking. However, some steps of the ACT model need to be disambiguated or presented more effectively in the tool.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

We present the Attentive Hearing Aid, a system that uses eye input to amplify the audio of tagged sound sources in the environment. A multidisciplinary project, we use the latest technology to take advantage of the social phenomenon of turn-taking in human-human communication, and apply this in a new kind of assistive hearing device. Using hearing-impaired participants, we evaluated the use of eye input for switching between sound sources on a screen in terms of switch time and the recall of audiovisual material. We compared eye input to a control condition and two manual selection techniques: using a remote to point at the target on the screen, and using buttons to select the target. Results show that in terms of switch time, Eyes were 73% faster than Pointing and 58% faster than Buttons. In terms of recall, Eyes performed 80% better than Control, 54% better than Buttons, and 37% better than Pointing. In a post-evaluation user experience survey, participants rated Eyes highest in “easiest”, “most natural”, and “best overall” categories. We present the implications of this work as a new type of assistive hearing device, and also discuss how this system could benefit non-hearing-impaired individuals. / Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-26 13:46:25.789

Communication disorders affect one in ten Canadians and the incidence is particularly high among those with Cerebral Palsy. A vocalization-activated switch is often explored as an alternative means to communication. However, most commercial speech recognition tools to date have limited capability to accommodate dysarthric speech and thus are often prematurely abandoned. We developed and evaluated a novel vocalization-based access technology as a writing tool for a pediatric participant with cerebral palsy. It consists of a high quality condenser headmic, a custom classifier based on Gaussian Mixture Modeling (GMM) and Mel-frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) as features. The system was designed to discriminate among five vowel sounds while interfaced to an on-screen keyboard. We used response efficiency theory to assess this technology in terms of goal attainment and satisfaction. The participant’s primary goal to reduce switch activation time was achieved with increased satisfaction and lower physical effort when compared to her previous pathway.

Communication disorders affect one in ten Canadians and the incidence is particularly high among those with Cerebral Palsy. A vocalization-activated switch is often explored as an alternative means to communication. However, most commercial speech recognition tools to date have limited capability to accommodate dysarthric speech and thus are often prematurely abandoned. We developed and evaluated a novel vocalization-based access technology as a writing tool for a pediatric participant with cerebral palsy. It consists of a high quality condenser headmic, a custom classifier based on Gaussian Mixture Modeling (GMM) and Mel-frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) as features. The system was designed to discriminate among five vowel sounds while interfaced to an on-screen keyboard. We used response efficiency theory to assess this technology in terms of goal attainment and satisfaction. The participant’s primary goal to reduce switch activation time was achieved with increased satisfaction and lower physical effort when compared to her previous pathway.

Abstract Background. People with dementia (PWD) have difficulty adhering to their medication regiment and maintaining a sense of identity and social connectedness. Moreover, caregivers constantly worry about PWD especially when they are left home alone. Objective. To examine the usefulness and usability of the Claris Companion (CC) in assisting PWD and their caregivers. Results. Most participants found some of the communication functions, leisure functions and reminder functions difficult to use. They found that the email/text messaging, photos and videos function useful. Surprisingly, they did not find the reminder functions useful. Conclusion. This study demonstrated how the CC could help PWD regain their sense of identity and feel more socially connected to their family and friends. Furthermore, it also demonstrated how the CC gives peace of mind to caregivers in leaving PWD home alone while they are at work or running errands. Résumé Contexte. Les personnes avec la démence (PAD) ont de la difficulté à adhérer à leur régiment de médicaments ainsi que maintenir leur sens d’identité et de sociabilité. De plus, leurs proche-aidants s’inquiètent constamment de la PAD, spécialement lorsque qu’ils ou qu’elles sont à la maison tout(e)s seul(e)s. Objectif. D’examiner l’utilité et l’utilisabilité du Claris Companion (CC) pour assisté la PAD et son proche-aidant. Résultats. La plupart des participants ont trouvé les fonctions de communication, loisirs et de rappels difficiles à utilisés. Ils ont trouvé la fonction de messages courriel/SMS, les photos et les vidéos utiles. Étonnamment, ils n’ont pas trouvé les fonctions de rappels utiles. Conclusion. Cette étude démontre comment le CC peut aider la PAD à reprendre leur sens d’identité et sociabilité. De plus, ça démontre aussi comment le CC donne aux aidants naturels un sens de tranquillité d’esprit lors qu’ils ou qu’elles sont au travail ou font des courses.

This commentary reflects on a series of published research articles, 1996-2013, that form a PhD thesis by publication. The articles offer evidence of research into best practice relating to Assistive Technology (AT) product design as a specialist section of Industrial Design (ID). The aim of the research has been to provide AT product developers with a methodology that ordered and prioritised the application of proven research methods, design methods and design heuristics; as well as, to highlight the fundamental concepts that underpin the methodology. This commentary provides a review of the methods applied and discussion of their efficacy within each case study. The series of articles, evaluated at a meta-analysis level in the second part of the commentary, address the following research questions: 1) What is the optimum order and priority of conventional design methods, heuristics and research methods when applied within a new product development process for assistive technology products?, 2) Through a meta-analysis of case studies, are there key aspects that underpin an optimum AT-ID process? From the review, 61 research methods, design methods and heuristics were defined. An order of methods and heuristics identified some methods that were used throughout all phases of a NPD process that included literature review, benchmarking, mixed methods and participatory research. The methods and heuristics used in all phases highlighted a user-centred approach and the close collaboration with end users and stakeholders. There was also a focus of methods and heuristics around phase 2 of the 5 design process phases defined by Martin and Hannington. The critical review also highlighted key underpinning aspects that helped optimise an Industrial Design approach to ID-AT NPD. These were 1) creating a format for dialogue within the constraints of perception and 2) previous experience and the application of ethically sound protocols for the whole process. Lastly the change of terminology and attitudes of those working the Assistive Technology industry highlighted the need for more research into social acceptance of all aspects of Assistive Technology and the perception of disability from those living with impairment and by UK society as a whole.

Relative infrequency of communication initiation, particularly initiations that involve attention-sharing or other social purposes, appears to negatively impact the later-life outcomes of children with autism. Strategies to improve or encourage initiation skills in autism are hampered by the need for the behaviour to be spontaneous (i.e. unprompted by a partner). One potential approach that addresses the spontaneity issue is to extrinsically motivate initiations by changing aspects of the child’s environment such that they merit, or even demand, initiating a communication. Detecting subjectively inconsistent (i.e. discrepant) aspects in game-like virtual contexts appears to be something that inherently interests young children with autism, and can motivate them to initiate spontaneous, positive communications. Initial evidence for discrepancy as a communicative motivator came from a study which re-analysed video data from an existing autism and technology project (ECHOES), illustrating that a heterogeneous group of children all reacted frequently and socially to naturally occurring (i.e. unintentional, non-designed) discrepant aspects within ECHOES. A set of high-level design principles was developed in order to capture “lessons learned” from ECHOES that might facilitate re-creation of a similar pattern of spontaneous, positive initiation around discrepancy. A second, proof-of-concept study implemented these design principles in a set of three new touch-screen games (Andy’s Garden) that sought to establish, and then deliberately violate, child expectations (i.e. provide discrepancy-detection opportunities: DDOs). Children reacted socially and positively to the new games and DDOs. The results of this study allow us to answer its overall questions affirmatively: it is possible to motivate children’s communication–specifically, their initiation–by including deliberately-designed DDOs in a set of games. These findings are the first step towards determining whether discrepancy-detection opportunities may form a component of a future technology-based communication skills intervention, capable of changing children’s initiation behaviour outside of a game context.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine assistive technology-based instructions in the area of Living for postsecondary education students with autism spectrum disorder and/ or intellectual and developmental disabilities for investigating the types of AT support in improving independent living skills. An electronic search was conducted using the following databases: ERIC (Education Source version), ERIC (EBSCO host version), ERIC (ProQuest version), PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. Seven peer-reviewed journals were searched between 2008 and 2018. The references identified and relevant articles were scanned to find additional relevant literature. Papers referring to an assistive-technology based intervention that targets the area of independent living and be taught within the postsecondary program were included. Participants were diagnosed with ASD and/ or IDD and were enrolled in a postsecondary program designed for individuals with developmental disabilities. Only single-case studies or experimental/quasi- experimental designed studies were included. A total of 155 articles were found. The references and abstracts were saved in Endnote reference manager software for the selection process. First, 19 duplicates were found and excluded. A selection process was then carried out with the remaining 136 articles. The articles were screened by title and abstract, and 32 articles were excluded. Subsequently, full-text screening was conducted, and eight peer-reviewed articles and two dissertations were left. To conclude, the types of assistive technology while teaching independent living skills to postsecondary students with disabilities were reported. The skills were taught by using assistive technology were diverse. Results indicated the positive effectiveness of using assistive technology-based instructional practices in teaching independent living skills.

The manual wheelchair (MWC) and power wheelchair (PWC) each present advantages and disadvantages to participation and occupational performance. Consequently, some individuals choose to use both devices, depending upon the activity. A pushrim-activated, power-assisted wheelchair (PPW) may provide an alternative to the PWC for these users. This study utilized a two-phase, mixed methods design, comparing the performance and satisfaction of wheelchair users carrying out self-selected activities with their current PWC and with a PPW. There was no statistically significant difference in outcome measures between the PWC and PPW; however, many participants reported a preference for the PWC. Less accessible environments, particularly when transporting a wheelchair, were identified as opportunities for PPW use. Rather than replacing the PWC for all of their identified activities, participants indicated the PPW improved upon the MWC. As a result, participants expressed a willingness to try more (and new) activities, including some previously performed with the PWC. / October 2006