315 research outputs found
Body adornment and interaction aesthetics: a new frontier for assistive wearables
No full textThe paper addresses the challenge of balancing the tension between a problem-solving attitude in the design of assistive devices, with an ethical aesthetic, and cultural approach to design for people living with a temporary or permanent impairment. The topic is developed presenting two design cases. The first case addresses a permanent disability. It is a suite of smart jewels tailored for hearing impairment, which sense environmental sounds (e.g., doorbell, someone calling) and notify the wearer of their occurrence through different modalities (light patterns, vibrations, shape changes). The second case addresses a temporary impairment. It is an orthodontic facemask for the correction of malocclusions in children that has customised aesthetics and ergonomics and is associated with a digital game. The cases illustrate the experience-centred participatory design adopted to mitigate the stigma associated with current wearable assistive devices and promote a cultural shift to transform assistive wearables into beautiful, playful, gender-appropriate accessories
Culture is a right: designing multisensory experiences for an accessible cultural heritage beyond the museum’s walls
No full textThe concept of sensory museology is growing in recent years to promote new ways of experiencing the cultural heritage through multisensory stimulation, taking advantage of innovative technologies and new interaction modalities. This engagement strategy is pivotal to make the cultural heritage accessible for people with onset or age-related disabilities, in light of the fundamental right of all to access the heritage and participate in the cultural life of the community. In this chapter we investigate the potential of the multisensory exploration of the cultural heritage by analysing some innovative experimentations documented in the scientific literature, and by discussing the case study of the project BeauCoup. The project aims at developing new services through the integration of digital technologies and multisensory stimuli, to enable accessible cultural experiences for older adults with age-related impairments, in nursing homes and day-care centres
Smart jewels for inclusive fashion
No full textThe fashion industry has long neglected disability. However, the recent emphasis on inclusion, diversity and sustainability opens new scenarios for fashion that has a unique opportunity to cast disability in new, creative and more ethical terms. In this paper, we reflect on the troublesome relation between fashion and disability, and the stigmatisation and erasure of people with a disability from the fashion discourse. We focus on the design of medical accessories that is dominated by a medical model of disability that neglects the hedonic aspects of people’s experience in accessorising the body. Most of the medical aids for physical or perceptual impairment seem not worthy for fashion consideration. The paper reflects on the design of hearing aids and describes the case study of smart jewels that recognise and notify deaf people of surrounding sounds. The jewels are designed as fashion accessories and “objects of desire” rather than as devices to compensate for an impairment
Augmented and Virtual Reality for the promotion of the cultural heritage: analysis of museum mission and visitor experience
No full textThe thesis discusses the role of Augmented and Virtual Reality technology for the promotion of the cultural heritage, considering both the museum mission and the visitor experience. The research framework represents an integration of the Contextual Model of Learning developed in the field of Museum Visitor Studies, and the cultural-historical Activity Theory, so to consider the different human, environmental and technological dimensions that determine the visitor experience. The research includes two studies. The first study is a qualitative investigation performed at the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome, in order to explore the "design for use" and the "design in use", by collecting data through ethnographic methods and analyzing data through the Service Design Thinking methodology. The second study is an investigation of the museum audience performed using an online questionnaire, to complement and validate the results from study 1. The thesis discusses the results related to the technology as engagement factor, the artifacts ecology and the social interaction among visitors
Transformational design for food systems: Cultural, social and technological challenges1
No full textDue to climate changes, resources availability and evolving markets, the food system is developing towards an articulated and complex ecology, with fast transformations occurring in food production, preparation, delivery and disposal. In this context, innovation is needed not just to ideate solutions to deal with a fast-changing system but also to accompany the change adopting a systemic long-term approach. We reflect on the transformational potential of design in the food sector enabled by digital technologies, one of the current major drivers of change. We define two levels of changes implying digital technologies, those that radically change the food system and those enabling changes within a given system. These levels are exemplified with case studies documented in literature and with students’ projects showing how transformational design can help grasp the complexity of current problems, and question the current status quo by facilitating a dialogue among stakeholders to stimulate behaviour change without prescribing it. In this article we encourage a paradigm shift of design from craft activity to a holistic approach of systemic thinking where the designer assumes the role of promoter and facilitator of change. Reflections on challenges at cultural, social and technological levels are provided in the conclusion section
Designing digital technologies for sustainable transformations of food systems
No full textThis Special Issue focuses on exploring the latest trends in the use of information technology to cope with emerging societal transformations on the food system and its interrelations. It aims to be a starting point, especially to show what a key role designers play today in the ongoing transformation process and transition of food systems. It shows that the great challenge of digital innovation in the food sector is to re-design not only the products, but also the services and processes imposed by the ongoing digital transformation
Therapy gamification to improve children compliance. A systematic literature review
No full textIn the healthcare domain there is a growing body of literature addressing the use of games and gamification strategies which go beyond entertainment to positively affect the therapy outcomes and the health status of the patients. This represents an emerging field of experimentation that requires a holistic perspective to consider both the medical requirements and the patients’ characteristics and needs. When approaching this topic, a common framework to guide the game design process is missing. To fill this gap, this paper reports a systematic literature review about the use of games and gamification strategies
to stimulate children’s compliance in different therapeutic contexts. The objective is to analyse the state of the art by identifying both opportunities and constraints, and derive a common framework to guide the future design of games. The results show that games and gamification strategies are used in both
pharmacological therapy and non-pharmacological therapy, to directly increase the compliance (for practising rehabilitation exercises, for adopting healthy behaviours) or to indirectly affect the compliance for example by making the therapy enjoyable. By categorising the existing literature, it emerged a main
conceptual distinction between “therapeutic games” and “games for therapy”, which have peculiar characteristics and implications for their design and evaluation
Enabling inner creativity to surface: the design of an inclusive handweaving loom to promote self-reliance, autonomy and wellbeing
No full textThe paper describes the design case of an accessible handweaving loom that allows people with different disabilities, including cognitive and sensorial disabilities, to weave independently, promoting self-expression and stimulating creativity. The project developed through an intense phase of prototyping activities, resulting in the re-design of a handweaving loom enhanced and transformed through rapid prototyping using digital fabrication technology. People with various types of disabilities, their caregivers and weaving experts were engaged in a series of participatory design workshops focused on eliciting requirements and desires and inspiring the design process. Throughout the project and in the attempt to integrate some automation in the weaving process, a number of issues emerged regarding how to balance flexibility and guidance to support the creative process without constraining it. The discussion of the design case offers a contribution on design for accessibility and a concrete case to reflect on the importance of supporting and stimulating self-expression and creativity in people with special needs. The paper concludes with design recommendations to accommodate needs of people with disabilities which range from functional and instrumental needs, to experiential needs including aesthetics, self-expression and creativity which are usually overlooked in accessibility guidelines
Anche il design discrimina: sull’influenza di stereotipi e pregiudizi nel processo di progettazione
No full textIn questo libro le autrici riflettono sulle pratiche di design e su come stereotipi, pregiudizi e discriminazioni influenzano il processo progettuale, anche in modo inconsapevole. La riflessione si concentra sul processo più che sulle soluzioni progettuali: sulle dinamiche, le decisioni, gli assunti e i valori che si attivano prima ancora che la soluzione prenda forma. È in questo spazio, spesso trascurato, che si annidano molte
delle cause profonde delle discriminazioni che ritroviamo nei risultati finali. Il punto di partenza è la comprensione dei concetti di stereotipo, di pregiudizio e di discriminazione, combinando la prospettiva cognitiva con la prospettiva sociale e culturale, per poi riflettere su alcuni approcci e metodi di design per ripensarli nell’ottica della progettazione responsabil
Mixed reality for cross-cultural integration. Using positive technology to share experiences and promote communication
No full textThe opinion article highlights some innovative resources to deal with the challenges of migrations, relying in the field of positive technologies and, more specifically, in the concept of mixed reality.
In the contemporary society, migrations are a common phenomenon that rises cultural and psycho-social issues, as well as political and economic challenges. People move from their place of origin for educational or professional purposes or because they are forced to leave due to political, economic and social conditions, and also natural disasters which produce population flows. Whatever the push and pull factors are, when people move permanently or temporarily they tend to maintain close ties with their place of origin (with people, places, culture, practices etc.), while trying to develop attachment with the place of residence.
Immigrants construct their identities in the context of a negotiation between old and new homes’ contexts. However, such a process is not free from issues and relevant consequences on immigrants’ well-being. Some psychosocial issues can be identified regarding identity re-negotiation while moving to a different place, and cultural integration: immigrants could experience feeling of isolation, estrangement and alienation, related to the difficulty to create strong social ties in the new place; the “acculturation stress” associated to adaptation to new culture, language and practices.
Positive technologies offer innovative resources to deal with these challenges, by considering the human health and well-being as the main objective for technological advancement.
In a broad sense, Positive technology may be used to structure, augment or replace user experience with digital content; also, positive devices may be used to promote positive emotions (hedonic technology), to support the user in the achievement of engaging and self-actualizing experiences (eudaimonic technology), and to enhance connectedness among individuals, groups and societies (social-interpersonal technologies).
In such perspective, the mixed reality technology provides resources for intervention in that it is based on the addition of digital elements in the physical environment, instead of its substitution with an immersive experience which, in this case, may act as a palliative care for sadness but does not help to integrate oneself in a new, “real” physical environment and social context.
Specifically, mixed reality based Positive technologies can help in maintaining the relation with the home country, and also in fostering the inclusion in and attachment to the receiving society, by providing users with sources of identification that stretch beyond the national and local contexts of their old and new homes. Addressing the social connectedness, the mixed reality can provide the medium to share the meanings that people attach to places, people and cultures, and creating belonging in the receiving society. Indeed, people can better approach the receiving society by understanding the cultural meanings connected with places, history and activities.
The concept expressed in the opinion article is still in its infancy. However, it provides an innovative idea for positive technology (at the social-interpersonal level), which may guide the development of future devices and applications for enhancing health and well-being in the growing population looking for a new life in places distant from home
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