1,720,961 research outputs found
Accessible Human Computer Interaction: Video Games and Assisted Living for Persons with Severe Disabilities
Full text linkAccessible Human Computer Interaction is a very wide area of study, which covers many topics and addresses several interesting problems; but there is a common goal that researchers of this field usually share: to use technology for improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities. In fact, this thesis stems from the will of helping persons with disabilities in different moments of their lives (i.e., during their childhood and in their adult age), by using different interactive technologies. In particular, this document explores two challenges: first, the problem that children with motor disabilities face as they cannot access dynamic video games as their normally developing peers do, leading them to reduced participation at leisure and playful educational activities, and finally to a potential social exclusion. The second challenge is faced by professional caregivers that work with adults motor and cognitively disabled, within assisted living facilities. Such caregivers need to effectively monitor the people under their care, as well as to be alerted of potentially hazardous situations that happen to these persons while they are alone. This thesis contributes to the improvement of the quality of life of persons with motor and cognitive disabilities, by supporting them in specific situations through different moments of their lives: in their childhood, by allowing them to play dynamic video games; and in their adulthood while they live and are cared by caregivers in assisted living facilities. Moreover, the research presented in this document constitutes a potentially valuable contribution to bring together the technical capabilities of engineers and HCI researchers, with the experience and knowledge of healthcare professionals that work daily with persons with disabilitie
Supporting Caregivers in Assisted Living Facilities for Persons with Disabilities: a User Study
Full text linkResearch activities on designing healthcare support systems in the field of ambient assisted living are mainly focused on addressing two problems: improving the quality of life for people in their own homes, especially the elderly, and supporting nurses and physicians in hospitals. However, few papers focus on designing specific systems for supporting caregivers that work with persons with disabilities in the context of assisted living facilities (ALFs). This paper intends to contribute to filling this gap and presents a series of guidelines for designing systems that could effectively support caregivers in tasks such as monitoring ALF inhabitants, attending to their assistance requests and managing notes and reminders regarding daily activities. These design guidelines derive from the qualitative analysis of a comprehensive user study, carried out in northern Italy, of three focus groups conducted with a total of 30 caregivers in three different ALFs for persons with physical and cognitive disabilities
Template-based ontology population for Smart Environments configuration
Full text linkSmart Environment is one of several domains in which Semantic Web technologies are applied nowadays. Ontologies, in particular, are used as core modeling languages for representing devices, systems and environments. Developing such ontologies, that typically involve several device descriptions (individuals) and related information, i.e., individuals of classes contributing to the device model, is often done by a manual, time consuming, and error-prone approach. Flexible and semi-automatic tools are therefore needed to enhance ontology population and to enable end-users to fruitfully configure their Smart Environments without the intervention of an ontology expert. This paper presents a template based approach, which increases accuracy, ease of use, and time-effectiveness of the ontology population process by reducing the amount of user-given information of about an order of magnitude, with respect to the fully manual approach. User-required information only pertains device features (e.g., name, location, etc.) and never implies knowledge of Semantic Web technologies, thus enabling end-user configuration of smart homes and buildings. Experimental results with a prototypical implementation confirm the viability of the approach on a real-world use cas
IoT Meets Caregivers: a Healthcare Support System in Assisted Living Facilities
Full text linkThis paper presents a system that exploits the synergy between wearable/mobile technology and smart caring environments to support caregivers in Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) for persons with physical and cognitive disabilities. In particular, this healthcare support system allows caregivers to be automatically alerted of potentially hazardous situations that happen to the inhabitants while these are alone. The design stemmed from six system requirements derived from the results of three focus groups conducted with 30 caregivers of different ALFs in Northern Ital
GNomon: Enabling Dynamic One-Switch Games for Children with Severe Motor Disabilities
Full text linkNowadays, video games represent one of the most popular forms of structured play among children. These allow them to enjoy very entertaining game mechanics, a variety of game genres and novel modes of interaction. However, this is not always the case for children with severe motor disabilities that rely on one-switch interfaces to access electronic devices. This work in progress presents GNomon, a framework based on the NOMON interaction modality, that enables the creation of dynamic, entertaining and complex one switch video games for children with severe motor disabilities. The framework was designed in close collaboration with a team of speech therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists from one of the Local Health Agencies in Turin, Italy. We also report the design and implementation of two GNomon-based games, which have already been accepted by the health agency experts to be tested with a group of their assisted childre
Playable One-Switch Video Games for Children with Severe Motor Disabilities Based on GNomon
Full text linkBeing able to play games in early years is very important for the development of children. Even though, children with physical disabilities encounter several obstacles that exclude them from engaging in many popular games. In particular, children with severe motor disabilities that rely on one-switch interfaces for accessing electronic devices find dynamic video games completely unplayable. In this paper we present the development and evaluation of GNomon: a framework, based on the NOMON interaction modality, that enables the creation of dynamic one-switch games for children with severe motor disabilities. The framework was designed following a series of guidelines elicited in close collaboration with a team of speech therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists from one of the Local Health Agencies in Turin, Italy. Likewise, three mini games were developed for testing the playability of GNomon-based games. Finally, we conducted a series of trials with 8 children with severe motor disabilities assisted by the health agency, in which we found that all of them enjoyed playing the GNomon-based mini games and that 7 of them were able to interact and play autonomousl
Can We Make Dynamic, Accessible and Fun One-Switch Video Games?
No full textThis paper presents two one-switch games designed for children with severe motor disabilities, based on the GNomon framework. These mini games demonstrate that it is possible to make dynamic video games with time-dependent game mechanics and flexible layout configurations while being accessible and playable with a single switch. The games were designed in close collaboration with a team of speech therapists, physiotherapists, and psychologists from one of the Local Health Agencies in Turin, Italy. Moreover, the games have been already evaluated with a group of children with different motor impairments through a series of trials with encouraging result
Clocks, Bars and Balls: Design and Evaluation of Alternative GNomon Widgets for Children with Disabilities
Full text linkChildren that rely on the use of single switches to access electronic devices, due to physical impairments, can play dynamic video games as their normally developing peers thanks to GNomon: one of the first framework for creating dynamic one-switch video games. However, children with physical impairments that also have cognitive disabilities find additional difficulties in using the current GNomon-based interface. To compensate these difficulties, the "classical" GNomon widget must be rethought and simplified. This paper proposes a parallel between three different widgets specifically designed for GNomon-based interfaces. Each widget employs metaphor in a different way and it has been evaluated with six children with motor and cognitive disabilities. The results are encouraging: a widget, based on the "big and small" concept, is preferred by children and is a candidate to make single-switch games easier to approac
Design and Development of One-Switch Video Games for Children with Severe Motor Disabilities
Full text linkVideo games are not just played for fun; they have become a handy instrument for the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children. However, several barriers prevent many children with disabilities from playing action-oriented video games, alone or with their peers. In particular, children with severe motor disabilities, who rely on one-switch interaction for accessing electronic devices, find fast-paced games that require rapid decision-making and timely responses, completely unplayable. This article contributes to lowering such barriers by presenting GNomon (Gaming NOMON), a software framework based on the NOMON mode of interaction that allows the creation of action-oriented single-switch video games. The article reports the results of two studies that evaluate the playability and rehabilitation suitability of GNomon-based video games. The playability of GNomon-based games is evaluated by assessing their learnability, effectiveness, errors, satisfaction, memorability, and enjoyability with a group of eight children with severe motor disabilities. The suitability for pediatric rehabilitation is determined by means of a focus group with a team of speech therapists, physiotherapists, and psychologists from a Local Health Agency in Turin, Italy. The results of the playability study are positive: All children had fun playing GNomon-based video games, and seven of eight were able to interact and play autonomously. The results of the rehabilitation-suitability study also entail that GNomon-based games can be exploited in training hand-eye coordination and maintenance of selective attention over time. The article finally offers critical hindsight and reflections and shows possible new future game concepts
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