Tetsuya Hirotomi

Analysis of Involuntary Movements for Adapting Input Devices to People with Motor Impairments Based on 3-Axis Accelerometers

People with motor impairments often need adaptation of input devices to interact with surrounding people and home-appliances via communication aids and environmental control systems. During the adaptation, a body part to be used, a device to be activated, its specific location, and a posture to use it should be decided by assessing accuracy and speed of motions. Additionally, the strength and frequency of involuntary movements should be taken into account. The successful adaptation is a key determinant to improve Quality of Life (QOL). However, the adaptation is carried out, in most cases, based on only subjective assessments. That is why, we are developing a quantitative method to detect involuntary movements and measure the adaptability of input devices. Our method is based on the root mean square (RMS) values of 3-axes accelerations. In our case studies, a set of accelerometers were attached to corresponding body parts to detect involuntary movements. The results indicate that the RMS values became higher when conspicuous involuntary movements observed. Special attention is paid to analyzing the RMS values in touch panel adaptation.

Preliminary Study on Using Accelerometers to Measure Involuntary Movements for the Assessment of Neurological Motor Impairments

Involuntary movement can be classified into tremor, chorea, athetosis/dystonia, ballismus, myoclonus, or tic. In clinical settings, diagnosing a cause of involuntary movement is generally performed by observation and interview. Proper diagnosis relies on the doctors experience and knowledge. Objective assessment tool to support doctors for discriminating involuntary movements are requested. An accelerometer is a portable and noninvasive device. We propose to use acceleration of body sites as an evidence of the discrimination. In this study, we analyse the characteristics of left upper limbs movement at rest and postural task of participants with/without neurological motor impairment. The results suggest that waveform, the number of base-line crossing and the root mean square value of acceleration have the potential to assess the involuntary movement.

Assessing quality of movement in a child with cerebral palsy by using accelerometers

Children with cerebral palsy often use adaptive seating systems to access and operate assistive technology devices, such as speech generation and environment control devices, to communicate with surrounding persons and interact with electric appliances. Proper seating provided by occupational and physical therapists is crucial to inhibit abnormal movements, reflexes and tone, thereby can maximise the childrens ability to function. More frequent seating assessments in daily living are necessary to maintain the seating. The goal of this study is to develop a quantitative method to assess the quality of movement while undertaking touch operations by using a set of portable accelerometers. We conducted an in-depth case study on a girl with cerebral palsy and evaluate agreements between the root mean square values of acceleration and the occupational therapists subjective assessment. Our assessment and the OTs subjective assessment reached 69.3% agreement and the RMS values could detect the very little involuntary movement. The results suggest that the RMS values have the potential to be the quantitative evidence for seating.

Brake Control Assist on a Four-Castered Walker for Old People

Brake control assist for a four-castered walker for old people has been developed. The prototype system is equipped with a set of simple sensors, such as three-axis acceleration sensor and distance sensor. Our system estimates three walking states to control the application of the brake. Emergency strong brake can be predicted to prevent and/or forestall a fall. Individual characteristics related to brake control can be acquired within a short time and taken effect. In this paper, the implementation of brake control assist and its evaluations from performance and usability points of view are presented.

An AAC System Designed for Improving Behaviors and Attitudes in Communication Between Children with CCN and Their Peers

Visual aids are widely used in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for individuals with pervasive developmental and intellectual disabilities. To satisfy their complex communication needs, a variety of AAC systems have been developed as mobile applications (apps). The effectiveness of these apps mainly relies on the abilities of communication peers. Persuasive technology is aimed at changing behaviors and attitudes. In order to increase the frequency of presenting visual aids with verbal messages, we applied persuasive principles in designing the mobile AAC app named “STalk2.” The app is capable of recognizing voice and presenting visual aids stored in a local database and/or retrieved by image search on the web; it also monitors communication activities. In this study, we examined the effects of using STalk2 on the behaviors and attitudes of five children with CCN and eleven of their peers. Special attention was paid to analyzing questionnaires, diaries, and video recordings obtained from peers. The results suggest that persuasive technology in AAC systems may be effective in improving communication behaviors and attitudes.

Understanding the Questions Asked by Care Staff While Eliciting Life Stories from Older Adults for AAC System Design

Several augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems have been developed to present multimedia content to support the storytelling of older adults. To develop these systems, the AAC system designer requires information regarding the interaction of conversations in the field. Designing such systems requires careful consideration of not only the provision of content as stimulus for older adults but also the support for interlocutors to ask effective questions within the frequent sequential patterns. However, the efficacy of questions asked by interlocutors while presenting content has not been a major focus of research. This paper presents an analysis of peer conversations between geriatric health service facility residents with neurocognitive disorders and their care staff, while photographs are being shown on a touchscreen. As a result, we determined the questions and patterns that are effective in eliciting storytelling. These insights may be used to enhance the design of AAC systems for storytelling.

Using Motion Sensors to Support Seating and Positioning Assessments of Individuals with Neurological Disorders

Abstract Appropriate postural control can inhibit involuntary movements caused by neurological disorders. Physical and occupational therapists assess individuals with neurological disorders for recommending seating and positioning settings. This paper presents a system to support the therapists by providing acceleration, angular velocity, activity logs and video clips of touch panel operations. The system was used for assessing ten individuals. Root-mean-square values of acceleration and angular velocity of eight body sites reached 83.7% and 74.4% agreement with therapists’ ratings of involuntary movements. Therapists suggested that the data obtained from the system was satisfactory in accuracy and useful for confirming their decisions.

Glasses-Free 3D Display System Using View Control Film for Stereo Image Separation

We developed a glasses-free 3D stereoscopic display using an LCD display panel, a view control film and a grating film for stereoscopic viewing. The display screen is divided in half in order that left and right regions provide the stereoscopic images for left and right eyes. Because both stereoscopic images are not in the same position, it is difficult for the observer to view the 3D image by the stereoviewing. The grating film can solve this problem because it shifts both left and right images to the same position. Moreover the view control film can give us glasses-free 3D viewing.

Dual Layer LC Panels for Polarization Control to Display Invisible 2D Code

The authors have researched a support system of the reminiscence and life review activity. This support system consists of an interactive tabletop display and interface system. An invisible code is one of the useful technologies. The invisible codes provide us with an operating environment using a pen-like device. However, this technology is applied to the only paper media. The authors think we want to realize an interaction using the invisible code on an electrical media. We propose a method to display invisible codes using LCD panels and to detect a polarized symbol image with a conventional CCD camera.

360 Degrees All-Around View Displaying Using Viewing Angle Control Technique

The authors describe a 360 degree viewing display that can be viewed from any direction. To generate all-around 360 degree viewing window, we developed a special diffusion screen with one viewing aperture using holographic optical elements.