Giuseppe Mincolelli

WHYRE: a context-aware wearable computer for museums and archaeological sites

WHYRE is a hands-free, sensory augmented, wearable computer designed to turn museums and archaeological sites into communicating machines. It offers a unified interface to multiple format contents, including interactive 3D, sensors driven QTVRs, and streamed animations. It is based on an IA32 mobile platform with a 3D graphics accelerator. Its operating system is Windows XP Embedded. WHYRE is being demonstrated in two primary Italian Museums. This paper reviews WHYRE requirements and features, and summarizes its evaluation process.

Inclusive Design for Ageing People and the Internet of Things: Understanding Needs

The design for the elderly is a highly topical research theme: the progressive ageing of the world’s population over the past few years has forced us to direct our attention to problems concerning the third age, particularly on promoting a lifestyle that is not only healthy and active but also as independent as possible. These are the main topics of the HABITAT project, which is financed inside the POR FESR 2014–2020 program of the Regione Emilia Romagna in Italy. This program aims to develop and test a platform based on the Internet of Things for the realization of caring and re-arrangeable environments. This research project was the starting point that led to focus on a wider study of the methodologies for the Inclusive Design. It created an opportunity to develop wider guidelines regarding both Inclusive Design and IoT, which will be specifically tested in the same project, making it a case study.

Design for the Active Ageing and Autonomy: The Role of Industrial Design in the Development of the “Habitat” IOT Project

The increasing emergence of social and healthcare costs due to constant ageing trends of the world population requires to find new solutions to support and prolong people’s independence within the everyday living environments. A research pool among Italian universities, industries and public agencies for the management of services to the person is developing a project called Habitat, aiming at elaborating and testing a platform based on the Internet of Things, thence enabling to create supportive and reconfigurable environments by implementing, improving or re-designing some of the objects of everyday use. The research methodology will be that of the User Centred Design, while the design tool for giving solutions to the end-users’ needs is the Quality Function Deployment (QFD). This article wants to investigate the role of design research within the Habitat project, and it will focus on the definition of the characteristics and contributions of design methods applied to a research project aimed at developing useful innovation for real users by a multidisciplinary team.

Accessing and Understanding Cultural Heritage Through Users Experience Within the INCEPTION Project

The interdisciplinary EU funded project INCEPTION – Inclusive Cultural Heritage in Europe through 3D semantic modelling, coordinated by the Department of Architecture of the University of Ferrara, is focused on bringing together innovative 3D modelling and ICT applications and professionals involved in different fields of Cultural Heritage. The aim is to increase knowledge, enhancement and dissemination through 3D digital models in order to promote the inclusiveness and accessibility of European assets. In this direction, a Stakeholder Panel with different skills in the field of Cultural Heritage has been involved leading the research toward effective strategies to increase use and reuse of digital models. These strategies are aimed at maximizing the impact of using digital data for cultural heritage applications involving a wide range of non-expert and expert users, starting from specific requirements for processing, managing, delivering cultural heritage information to a broad audience. A co-design workshop has been organized involving Stakeholders in order to investigate on their requirements and expectations, to obtain information that could be useful for the User Centered process of definition of INCEPTION’s main outcomes and functionalities.

Inclusive Design of Wearable Smart Objects for Older Users: Design Principles for Combining Technical Constraints and Human Factors

The purpose of this article is to propose an evaluation of integration principles between constraints resulting from the choice of technologies to be used on devices, and human needs deriving from the needs analysis of the elderly, in the field of wearable smart objects design for self-sufficient and non-self-sufficient users. The authors will describe this process according to the state of progress of HABITAT project.

Internet of Things and Elderly: Quantitative and Qualitative Benchmarking of Smart Objects

Population aging and related healthcare costs already are a problem to face and will increasingly become an even more serious issue. This phenomenon triggers important social changes, highlighting the urgency of finding new dynamics and services also for the Home Care and Healthcare field. The spreading of smart objects and the Internet of Things it is possible to improve the quality of services and device performance for monitoring qualitative and quantitative parameters of elderly people with the ultimate goal of improving their quality of life. The paper therefore proposes to perform a competitive benchmarking between the selected products and the needs identified in the Habitat project, in order to determine its effectiveness; moreover, the correspondence to the needs will be evaluated from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. This work, in addition to provide a lucid and specific market analysis of the studied products, will help to identify the critical points and strengths of the smart objects. Its ultimate goal is to develop a comprehensive needs framework which provides a solid foundation in making new smart object prototypes for old people.

UCD, Ergonomics and Inclusive Design: The HABITAT Project

Recent forecasts about the European population have highlighted the fact that the number of elderly people will grow rapidly in the upcoming years and that the economic impact of aging society will be relevant in all EU countries. In this perspective, a healthy, active, and independent aging, for as long as possible, is a goal that involves the whole community, as it can lead to an improvement in the quality of life and a great cost savings. In this scenario, digital technology can put itself at the service of healthy ageing also by empowering available tools and devices, and allowing the development of new support paradigms, like seamless anywhere-anytime medical treatment and home assistance, with sustainable quality and costs. The article aims at describing the application of a Human Centered design tool, like the QFD, to the selection and development of technological solutions related to physical and cognitive ergonomics issues in the design of smart objects connected to the Internet of Things for elderly. The applied methods take also in account the needs of all the people involved in the care and assistance of the elderly, trying to define the most inclusive and less intrusive design solutions. The analysis is based on the first results obtained by the Habitat project, a multidisciplinary design research focused on the development of a IOT platform for the Home Assistance of self-sufficient and non-self-sufficient elderly users.

DESIGN FOR DUCHENNE. Guidelines for dwellings’ construction or renovation for Muscular Dystrophy-Affected Families

Abstract The Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rare disease that affects 1one Boy of about 3500. The first symptoms appear in about 2-5 years and lead to a total paralysis. The current average life expectancy is 25-30 years. The Italian legislation on the accessibility of the spaces is outdated and not relevant to a consumer complex as that dystrophic. The research aims to produce an information and knowledge tool useful both for families and for professionals to inform them on the technological opportunities in the market and tries to suggest the types more accessible based on the current and future needs of boys with DMD. The entire project, which follows the multidisciplinary approach of Design for All, was developed following the methodology of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD), a technique that puts users at the center of the creative project and ideational. The research has also led to a monographic publication published by Franco Angeli Editore.

Design for People Affected by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Proposal of a New Type of Ankle Foot Orthosis [AFO] Based on 3D Indirect Survey and 3D Printing

Duchenne is a rare form of muscular dystrophy affecting 1 on 3.500 male children that, at about 8–12 years old progressively become wheelchair bounded, with an expectation of life on the late 20 or 30 years old. Due to muscles’ weakening, Achilles tendon takes over on muscle tissue and starts to thicken and shrink in length, causing plantar flexion and retractions, while the function of AFOs is for applying a stretching force that can delay equine deformation of the feet. It is scientifically demonstrated that a constant use of night Ankle Foot Orthosis, together with physiotherapy, can extend the independent ambulation by up to two years and delay the occurrence of other complications. Moreover even once the child is wheelchair bounded, a further delay in retraction prevents contractures, complications and pains. Night Ankle Foot Orthoses are not a cure for DMD patients and Achille tendons’ retractions at the end will in any case take over muscular strength. The research started from these premises to understand margin of improvements of current products and design an innovative type of static AFO. The obtained results at this stage prove that an innovative process is possible, it demonstrates with the case studies its great potential of application an improvement compared to current products, but it has to be further tested and developed in order to become a usable orthoses.

Design for Duchenne. Guidelines for Dwellings’ Construction or Renovation for Muscular Dystrophy—Affected Families

Duchenne is a rare form of muscular dystrophy (DMD) that affects 1 boy out of 3500. The first symptoms appear around 2–5 years of age and result in a total muscles paralysis. The Italian legislation on accessibility of spaces and services is rather outdated and not entirely relevant for the specific needs of DMD-affected children. This research aims to offer a practical guide to renovation or new-construction projects that can be useful for parents of DMD-affected children, designers and experts. The covered aspects include the design of residential buildings’ spatial and functional architectonic elements and the connected design of furniture. Both aspects are conceived having in mind key accessibility requirements by users with limited mobility. The purpose is to improve users’ quality of life, with a specific focus on DMD-affected children and their families. The research follows the approach of Design for All, developed through the application of a User-Centered design methodology based on QFD (Quality Function Deployment).