Erin Buehler

Sharing is Caring: Assistive Technology Designs on Thingiverse

An increasing number of online communities support the open-source sharing of designs that can be built using rapid prototyping to construct physical objects. In this paper, we examine the designs and motivations for assistive technology found on Thingiverse.com, the largest of these communities at the time of this writing. We present results from a survey of all assistive technology that has been posted to Thingiverse since 2008 and a questionnaire distributed to the designers exploring their relationship with assistive technology and the motivation for creating these designs. The majority of these designs are intended to be manufactured on a 3D printer and include assistive devices and modifications for individuals with disabilities, older adults, and medication management. Many of these designs are created by the end-users themselves or on behalf of friends and loved ones. These designers frequently have no formal training or expertise in the creation of assistive technology. This paper discusses trends within this community as well as future opportunities and challenges.

ABC and 3D: opportunities and obstacles to 3D printing in special education environments

Consumer-grade digital fabrication such as 3D printing is on the rise, and we believe it can be leveraged to great benefit in the arena of special education. Although 3D printing is beginning to infiltrate mainstream education, little to no research has explored 3D printing in the context of students with special support needs. We present a formative study exploring the use of 3D printing at three locations serving populations with varying ability, including individuals with cognitive, motor, and visual impairments. We found that 3D design and printing performs three functions in special education: developing 3D design and printing skills encourages STEM engagement; 3D printing can support the creation of educational aids for providing accessible curriculum content; and 3D printing can be used to create custom adaptive devices. In addition to providing opportunities to students, faculty, and caregivers in their efforts to integrate 3D printing in special education settings, our investigation also revealed several concerns and challenges. We present our investigation at three diverse sites as a case study of 3D printing in the realm of special education, discuss obstacles to efficient 3D printing in this context, and offer suggestions for designers and technologists.

Investigating the Implications of 3D Printing in Special Education

Consumer-grade digital fabrication such as 3D printing is on the rise, and we believe it can be leveraged to great benefit in special education. Although 3D printing is infiltrating mainstream education, little research has explored 3D printing in the context of students with special support needs. We describe our studies on this topic and the resulting contributions. We initially conducted a formative study exploring the use of 3D printing at three locations serving populations with varying ability, including individuals with cognitive, motor, and visual impairments. We found that 3D design and printing perform three functions in special education: (1) STEM engagement, (2) creation of educational aids for accessible curriculum content, and (3) making custom adaptive devices. As part of our formative work, we also discussed a case study in the codesign of an assistive hand grip created with occupational therapists at one of our investigation sites. This work inspired further studies on the creation of adaptive devices using 3D printers. We identified the needs and constraints of these therapists and found implications for a specialized 3D modeling tool to support their use of 3D printers. We developed GripFab, 3D modeling software based on feedback from therapists, and used it to explore the feasibility of in-house 3D object designs in support of accessibility. Our contributions include case studies at three special education sites and discussion of obstacles to efficient 3D printing in this context. We have extended these contributions with a more in-depth look at the stakeholders and findings from GripFab studies. We have expanded our discussion to include suggestions for researchers in this space, in addition to refined suggestions from our earlier work for technologists creating 3D modeling and printing tools, therapists seeking to leverage 3D printers, and educators and administrators looking to implement these design tools in special education environments.

Coming to grips: 3D printing for accessibility

In this demonstration, we discuss a case study involving a student with limited hand motor ability and the process of exploring consumer grade, Do-It-Yourself (DIY) technology in order to create a viable assistive solution. This paper extends our previous research into DIY tools in special education settings [1] and presents the development of a unique tool, GripFab, for creating 3D-printed custom handgrips. We offer a description of the design process for a handgrip, explain the motivation behind the creation of GripFab, and explain current and planned features of this tool.

Inclusion and Education: 3D Printing for Integrated Classrooms

Over 60% of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the U.S. are unemployed; this is more than twice the unemployment rate of the general population [19]. Of the adults with ID who are employed, only half receive competitive wages alongside co-workers without disabilities. While the enactment of IDEA [20] has helped to promote access to education for people with ID and other disabilities, there are still obstacles to employment. Misconceptions about ability and lack of opportunities to learn and practice employability skills contribute to this problem. Our research explores employability and integration through the lens of 3D printing, an innovative technology touted as a means to self-employment. We successfully taught young adults with intellectual disabilities many technical skills required for 3D printing through an integrated, post-secondary course on 3D printing for entrepreneurship. In this paper we report on our methods for designing this course and discuss the benefits, challenges, and strategies for teaching 3D printing to an integrated cohort of students. We offer recommendations for educators and describe technology obstacles unique to this user demographic, and the impact of integrated, postsecondary courses on employment outcomes for students with ID.

What not to wearable: using participatory workshops to explore wearable device form factors for blind users

In this paper we document two participatory design workshops conducted with a team of eight visually impaired adults that explored features and form factors for a wearable navigation technology. We compare and contrast our experiences conducting a low-fidelity prototyping activity using office supplies and a medium-fidelity prototyping activity using electronic components and a scenario-based approach. While both sessions produced designs with similar features and form factors, participant engagement was much higher during the medium-fidelity session primarily due to the tangible materials used and the more directed structure of the activity. We present the resulting designs as well as recommendations for participatory design prototyping methods for wearable technology development, particularly for people with vision impairments.

Collaboratively designing assistive technology

In this forum we celebrate research that helps to successfully bring the benefits of computing technologies to children, older adults, people with disabilities, and other populations that are often ignored in the design of mass-marketed products. -- Juan Pablo Hourcade, Editor

Uncovering Challenges and Opportunities for 3D Printing Assistive Technology with Physical Therapists

Physical therapists have a history of modifying and making assistive technology (AT) to fit the unique needs of their patients. However, lack of materials, time, and access to training can restrict what they can create. While 3D printing has the opportunity to empower physical therapists to develop highly customized, economical, and timely assistive technology; little is known about the feasibility of using 3D printing in a clinical setting, and how to teach and engage physical therapists in physical prototyping. We collaborated with physical therapy professors and students at a medical university to integrate 3D printing and AT design into a graduate-level physical therapy class. Our investigation showed 3D printing is a viable tool for clinical production of AT. We found opportunities and barriers to 3D printing in the physical therapy field, and we present four considerations relevant to integrating 3D printing into clinical practice: 1) exploring augmentations versus novel AT designs, 2) improvements to novice 3D modeling software, 3) adjusting for prototype fidelity, and 4) selecting 3D printing materials. This paper contributes knowledge toward the understanding of practical applications of 3D printing in a clinical setting and teaching 3D modeling to non-engineers.

SIG on the State of Accessibility at CHI

In this document, we as representatives of the SIGCHI Accessibility Community lay out a request and plan for a SIG Meeting at CHI, in conjunction with AccessComputing, addressing the accessibility of participation in the CHI conference. We describe our organizations, our expected attendees, our approach and schedule of topics for the conducting the SIG, and our recruitment plan. The primary goal of this meeting is to provide a forum for discussing needs of CHI participants with disabilities, and to discuss unmet needs that act as barriers for conference attendance

Accessibility barriers to online education for young adults with intellectual disabilities

In postsecondary education, technology and online resources have become a pervasive component of learning, but they are not always accessible. For students with intellectual disabilities, completing technology-dependent tasks may pose unique challenges that are not always addressed by the disability support services offered at the university level. During our fieldwork, we have observed several barriers to online education tools in a postsecondary environment for students with intellectual disabilities. For example, a student with an intellectual disability submitting an assignment via email to an instructor may encounter difficulties recalling and navigating to the location of their attachment file. In this paper, we describe core skills and common interfaces that we have identified as problematic for this population through an emic ethnography. We offer emic (perceptions from within a given environment) experience accounts to highlight the obstacles we have observed in a) information retrieval, b) navigation and information architecture c) file management, and d) password management. As researchers and educators involved in a postsecondary program for young adults with intellectual disability (ID), we have spent considerable time working with this population. For each scenario, we offer examples from our own experience of the techniques and technologies that did or did not help students accomplish these tasks. Based on these experiences, we provide recommendations for mitigating these barriers including education and training for students and developers and the use of existing interventions and tools. We also discuss future directions for this work. We believe that heightened awareness and communication between educators, designers, and students with disabilities will help address these problems and generate solutions which provide more accessible education experiences for learners with diverse needs.