Week Two: Assistive Technology and its benefits to Interaction design

So! A few days ago we went to 'Lifetec' to get some understanding on assistive technology. By looking at the ill-abled, you can really get a good understanding on how to interact with products.
We had a lecture which focused on exactly what Assistive Technology was about, and how its important to Occupational Therapists, and Industrial designers- and ultimately the communication that needs to happen between both disciplines.
Assistive technology is defined as:
      " Any device, system or design that allows an individual to perform a task that they would usually otherwise be unable to do, or increase the ease of safety with which a task can be performed."
Unfortunetely we learned, although not surprisingly, that 50%  of assistive technology is abandoned. This is because it either doesn't match the persons goals or expectations, or simply the product hasn't been invented yet (which is great news for us Industrial designers!)
The goal of assistive technology is to "find a product to suit the individual's needs, and not to fit the individual in the equiptment".
We also looked at the HAAT Model, which consists of:
1. Human factors
- age/gender
- current (and future) goals and roles
- medical profile (diagnosis)
- current (and future) abilities and performances (sensory, cognitive, psychological, emotional)
- Clients' satisfaction with performances
- previous experience with assistive technology
- individual preference and attitudes
2. Activity Factors
- self care activities (showering, dressing, toileting, eating, ect)
- Daily activitiies/roles (cleaning, dining)
3. Technology (what an industrial designer typically looks at)
- Size
- Weight
- Shape
- maitenance
- transportability
- materials
- usability
- strength/flexibility
4. Context
- General setting (home, commute, school)
- social (peers, family, careers)
- cultural
- physical (temperature, weather, terrain)
There was one particular exercise throughout the lecture which really opened my eyes up. It focused on what would happen if you were missing a hand. Simple everyday tasks like putting on a shift, cutting a piece of paper and tieing your shoe laces seemed more than impossible! I took some pictures of this which you can see below.

There were also a whole heap of products that we got to muck around and play with. This included the interactive lounge chair, which is even used for sleeping in. Its controlled by a remote and can be elevated up and down to the users needs:

Next we saw a calling system which detects a fall or a crash that happens within the home. When this happens, it autmoatically dials through to an assistant service to help the person that has fallen over. I thought this was a very good idea for someone who is ill-abled but does not want to be overly dependant on someone else:

We then saw an interactive wheelchair which is similar to what Steven Hawkins uses. I've never seen one of these up close before, so it was great to play around with the dynamics of the product. It had a neck brace, leg extension, voice operator and emergency phone system:

We also got introduced to the only viable and commercially available electronic vaccum cleaner. I have seen many of these in the 'prototype' stage, however this is apparently the only one in Australia that is available for public use. It's small, compact and light weight- a great idea not only for the ill-abled but for people who are on the go- its a very convienient product to have!

There was also a computer there that could magnify documents, change the sizing, zoom, change the colouring, contrast and a number of other things. I didn't think this was very commerically viable as it would be a very expensive item to purchase. Perhaps if it was for an elderly community, where many people were going to use this, it would be great. But for the one off individual, it seems surpurflous:

There was also a bunch of electronics including keyboards, mouses, computer programmes and softwares for the ill-abled. However, this was nothing I had seen before, and I thought the products were quite out of date. However, there was one product which required you to put a small dot on your nose which then became the mouse for the computer. I tried this out for myself, and although it was almost impossible to use (and you'd get a stiff neck from it!) it was very impressive, and very entertaining lol:

They also had an array of kitchenware for the ill-abled. Unfortunetely I didn't take a picture of it, but there was this awesome little container, where you'd push pop the top and it would open, as opposed to you peeling off the edges to get the container open. it's a product anyone would buy because it simply makes it easier for the user to operate. There were also cups that had the side cut away from it, as it allowed people to drink from it without tilting there heads back to get the last bit of liquid- what a fantastic idea!

I had a great time at lifetec (it just happened to be my birthday as well, so it was nice to get out of uni and experience a little off-campus excursion!) So, thats it for todays blog, until next time! Kahlia