Gerhard Nussbaum

Addressing accessibility challenges of people with motor disabilities by means of AsTeRICS: a step by step definition of technical requirements

The need for Assistive Technologies in Europe is leading to the development of projects which aim is to research and develop technical solutions for people with long term motor disabilities. The Assistive Technology Rapid Integration & Construction Set (AsTeRICS) project funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the EU (Grant Agreement 247730) aims to develop a supporting multiple device integrated system to help people with upper limbs impairment. To this end, AsTeRICS is following the User Centred Design methods to gather the user requirements and develop solutions in an iterative way. This paper reports requirements prioritization procedures. These procedures are described in order to illustrate the user requirements transformation into technical requirements for the system development.

AsTeRICS, a Flexible Assistive Technology Construction Set

Abstract Over the last decades a considerable number of information and communication technology based Assistive Technology devices have become available for people with disabilities. These Assistive Technology devices often ask for adaptation of software and/or hardware to fit the users abilities before they can be used. Within the Project AsTeRICS, a flexible and affordable construction set for the implementation of user driven assistive technologies solutions will be developed. This allows the combination of different sensors to process and manipulate the sensor data to control any supported device. This paper will show how a webcam mouse (head tracker) and a single switch mouse can easily be created and tailored to the user needs and possibilities. Additionally, results of user tests with the head tracker will be presented.

People with disabilities: assistive homes and environments

Assistive Homes and Environments are a category of Smart Homes and Environments and are an approach to independent living. All important devices are linked together and allow their integrated control by an accessible user interface. These environments have the ability to compensate some of the occupants disabilities and therefore enhance the occupants independence. This special thematic session deals with Assistive Homes and Environments and related developments and research. The topics reach from “Smart and Assistive Homes” over “Control of ICT devices by eye gaze” to “Health monitoring systems for elderly and disabled people”

The Assistive Home - More than Just Another Approach to Independent Living?

The Assistive Home is a new approach to independent living. Other than in Smart Homes, in Smart Environments only important electrical items and appliances are linked together and it is based on market available standard components. The Assistive Home allows the integrated control via a centralized control center or via the electrical items focusing on accessibility and usability for people with disabilities. This paper points out the idea of the Assistive Home and introduces the residential building project “Dauphinestrasse” in Linz, Austria where the apartments will be realized as Assistive Homes. Furthermore the paper points out the advantages and challenges of the project.

Making the playstation 3 accessible with AsTeRICS

People with mobility disabilities can hardly play any of the mainstream computer and video games. For most of them, special developed games are the only chance to play games. So, playing together with friends or the family is only possible on a very limited way. Within the Project AsTeRICS, a flexible and affordable construction set for the implementation of user driven assistive technologies solutions will be developed. This allows the combination of different sensors to process and manipulate the sensor data to control any supported device. This paper will show, how a Sony PlayStation 3 can become the supported device, and how the requirements of a mainstream game can be tailored to the possibilities of a disabled person. Furthermore, possible limitations of this solution will be discussed.

AsTeRICS: a new flexible solution for people with motor disabilities in upper limbs and its implication for rehabilitation procedures.

Abstract Purpose: To present the AsTeRICS construction set, and examine different combinations of sensors installed in the platform and how users interact with them. Method: Nearly 50 participants from Austria, Poland and Spain were included in the study. They had a heterogeneous range of diagnoses, but as a common feature all of them experienced motor limitations in their upper limbs. The study included a 1 h session with each participant where the user interacted with a personalized combination of sensors, based on a previous assessment on their motor capabilities performed by healthcare professionals. The sensors worked as substitutes for a standard QWERTY keyboard and a standard mouse. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain participants’ opinions. All collected data were analyzed based on the qualitative methodology. Results: The findings illustrated that AsTeRICS is a flexible platform whose sensors can adapt to different degrees of users’ motor capabilities, thus facilitating in most cases the interaction of the participants with a common computer. Conclusion: AsTeRICS platform can improve the interaction between people with mobility limitations and computers. It can provide access to new technologies and become a promising tool that can be integrated in physical rehabilitation programs for people with motor disabilities in their upper limbs. Implications for Rehabilitation The AsTeRICS platform offers an interesting tool to interface and support the computerized rehabilitation program of the patients. Due to AsTeRICS platform high usability features, family and rehabilitation professionals can learn how to use the AsTeRICS platform quickly fostering the key role of their involvement on patients’ rehabilitation. AsTeRICS is a flexible, extendable, adaptable and affordable technology adapted for using computer, environmental control, mobile phone, rehabilitation programs and mechatronic systems. AsTeRICS makes possible an easy reconfiguration and integration of new functionalities, such as biofeedback rehabilitation, without major changes in the system.

Accessibility of non-trivial remote controlled models and toys

Nowadays there hardly exist accessible off the shelf toys for children and adults with disabilities. One group of non-trivial toys that are very interesting for people with physical disabilities are remote controlled (RC) models because the remotes can be easily exchanged by custom ones. If the controller is once adapted to the individual needs of a user, he can buy models in RC hobby shops without the need to adapt or modify it. This paper describes and discusses alternative control interfaces accessible for people with physical disabilities to accurately control model helicopters, airplanes boats or cars.

ENABLE --- A View on User's Needs

The ENABLE project, which is partly funded by the European Commission, aims to assist elderly people to live well, independently and at ease. In this project a wrist unit with both integrated and external sensors, and with a radio frequency link to a mobile phone, will be developed. ENABLE will provide a number of services for elderly people, among them also a remote control service for the home environment. This paper briefly describes the project in general and then focuses on the initial user needs investigation which was carried out in early 2007 in six different European countries. The provisional findings are discussed and an outlook on the ongoing and future project work is given. A special focus of this paper is on the environmental control service.

SmartX – Enabling Traditional Environmental Control to Use Standard HCI

Traditional Environmental Control (EC) systems mostly make use of remote control units. Due to that traditional Ecs

3D-Printing of Personalized Assistive Technology

Mouth sticks were invented to increase the independence of people with reduced or no hand/arm functionality. To enhance the usability and acceptance of these assistive devices, a process to create fully personalized mouth sticks has been developed. In order to enable the users to use the mouth stick for diverse applications like signing, drawing, using smart phones, tablets and computers, or even doing handcraft, the tips are chosen accordingly. The users can design their own mouth stick in an online web tool, then the fully personalized geometry of the mouth piece is 3D-printed with medical grade polymer, and the stick and tip are customized. As the use of regular computer accessories can be challenging for mouth stick users, this paper also elaborates on the example of a computer mouse, how these can be adapted to be more accessible for mouth stick users and how 3D-printers can help to quickly create, adapt and distribute assistive technology. Several mouse case designs for mouth stick users were developed, 3D-printed and tested using a participatory design approach and comparing it to a morphological analysis approach.