According to the Global Report on Assistive Technology (2023) [1] more than 2.5 billion people require one or more assistive products - a number that is expected to grow to over 3.5 billion by 2050 due to the aging of our societies. Over the past decade, the design of products that empower people with a disability has shifted from specialized and dedicated products designed only for those with a disability to features and functions integrated into cost-effective consumer technologies for the benefit of all. The opportunity to expand the availability of such technologies is at risk of being ignored due to models of AT delivery that are founded in medical devices, and which have failed to reflect trends in our understanding of technology and the choices and preferences expressed by persons with a disability. This research suggests that such expansion offers significant benefits to people with a disability and better both economic and social return on investment for authorities.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/SHTI230629 | DOI Listing |
GROUP ACM SIGCHI Int Conf Support Group Work
January 2025
College of Information Sciences and Technology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
Assistive technologies for people with visual impairments (PVI) have made significant advancements, particularly with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time sensor technologies. However, current solutions often require PVI to switch between multiple apps and tools for tasks like image recognition, navigation, and obstacle detection, which can hinder a seamless and efficient user experience. In this paper, we present NaviGPT, a high-fidelity prototype that integrates LiDAR-based obstacle detection, vibration feedback, and large language model (LLM) responses to provide a comprehensive and real-time navigation aid for PVI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDIS (Des Interact Syst Conf)
June 2022
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Remote sighted assistance (RSA) has emerged as a conversational assistive service, where remote sighted workers, ., agents, provide real-time assistance to blind users via video-chat-like communication. Prior work identified several challenges for the agents to provide navigational assistance to users and proposed computer vision-mediated RSA service to address those challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJMIR Rehabil Assist Technol
January 2025
Department of Health and Nursing Science, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway.
Background: Health care is shifting toward 5 proactive approaches: personalized, participatory, preventive, predictive, and precision-focused services (P5 medicine). This patient-centered care leverages technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robots, which can personalize and enhance services for users with disabilities. These advancements are crucial given the World Health Organization's projection of a global shortage of up to 10 million health care workers by 2030.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLOS Digit Health
January 2025
Centre Référent Maladies Rares Neuromusculaires, Service de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation Pédiatrique des Hospices Civils de Lyon - Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Bron, France.
Unlabelled: Among the 32 items of the Motor Function Measure scale, 3 concern the assessment of hand function on a paper-based support. Their characteristics make it possible to envisage the use of a tablet instead of the original paper-based support for their completion. This would then make it possible to automate the score to reduce intra- and inter-individual variability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Spinal Cord Med
January 2025
Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Context: Clinical Practice Guidelines from the Consortium for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Medicine recommend daily self-screening of at-risk skin surfaces, but many Veterans with SCI describe challenges using the standard issue long-handled self-inspection mirror (LSIM).
Objective: The objective of this project was to compare the LSIM to a recently developed camera-based self-inspection system (CSIS). User feedback guided iterative engineering to improve and develop the new technology in preparation for transfer to industry.
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