Visually impaired individuals often rely on assistive technologies such as white canes for independent navigation. Many electronic enhancements to the traditional white cane have been proposed. ...However, only a few of these proof-of-concept technologies have been tested with authentic users, as most studies rely on blindfolded non-visually impaired participants or no testing with participants at all. Experiments involving blind users are usually not contrasted with the traditional white cane. This study set out to compare an ultrasound-based electronic cane with a traditional white cane. Moreover, we also compared the performance of a group of visually impaired participants (
N
= 10) with a group of blindfolded participants without visual impairments (
N
= 31). The results show that walking speed with the electronic cane is significantly slower compared to the traditional white cane. Moreover, the results show that the performance of the participants without visual impairments is significantly slower than for the visually impaired participants. No significant differences in obstacle detection rates were observed across participant groups and device types for obstacles on the ground, while 79% of the hanging obstacles were detected by the electronic cane. The results of this study thus suggest that electronic canes present only one advantage over the traditional cane, namely in its ability to detect hanging obstacles, at least without prolonged practice. Next, blindfolded participants are insufficient substitutes for blind participants who are expert cane users. The implication of this study is that research into digital white cane enhancements should include blind participants. These participants should be followed over time in longitudinal experiments to document if practice will lead to improvements that surpass the performance achieved with traditional canes.
Many aspects relating to equipment configuration affect users’ actions in a manual wheelchair, determining the overall mobility performance. Since the equipment components and configuration determine ...both stability and mobility efficiency, configuring the wheelchair with the most appropriate set-up for individual users’ needs is a difficult task. Several studies have shown the importance of seat/backrest assembly and the relative position of the rear wheels to the user in terms of the kinetics and kinematics of manual propulsion. More recently, new studies have brought to light evidence on the inertial properties of different wheelchair configurations. Further new studies have highlighted the handrim as a key component of wheelchair assembly, since it is the interface through which the user drives the chair. In light of the new evidence on wheelchair mechanics and propulsion kinetics and kinematics, this article presents a review of the most important aspects of wheelchair configuration that affect the users’ actions and mobility.
Wearable devices have been developed to improve the navigation of blind and visually impaired people. With technological advancements, the application of wearable devices has been increasing. This ...systematic review aimed to explore existing literature on technologies used in wearable devices to provide independent and safe mobility for visually impaired people. Searches were conducted in six electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane, ACM Digital Library and SciELO). Our systematic review included 61 studies. The results show that the majority of studies used audio information as a feedback interface and a combination of technologies for obstacle detection - especially the integration of sensor-based and computer vision-based technologies. The findings also showed the importance of including visually impaired individuals during prototype evaluation and the need for including safety evaluation which is currently lacking. These results have important implications for developing wearable devices for the safe mobility of visually impaired people.
Purpose This study was aimed at investigating the influence of seat height and body posture on the activity of the superior trapezius and longissimus muscles. Subjects and Methods Twenty two healthy ...subjects were instructed to perform a total of eight different body postures, varying according three main factors: seat height (low and high seat); trunk inclination (upright and leaning forward at 45°); and the hips in abduction and adduction. Electromyography of the superior trapezius and longissimus was collected bilaterally, and the average values were obtained and compared across all the postures. Results The activity of the superior trapezius and longissimus significantly changes according to the seat height and trunk inclination. For both seat heights, sitting with trunk leaning forward resulted in a significant increase in the activity of both muscles. When sitting in a high seat and the trunk leaning forward, the superior trapezius activity was significantly reduced when compared to the same posture in a low seat. Conclusion This study contributes to the knowledge on the influence of the body posture and seat configuration on the activity of postural muscles. Reducing the biomechanical loads on the postural muscles must be targeted in order to improve users’ comfort and safety.
This study is aimed at comparing the design and configuration of the most commonly used manual wheelchair models through cardiorespiratory responses, perceived exertion, and mobility performance ...using two different manual wheelchairs, during mobility tasks. A within-group 2×3×2 controlled experiment was designed with three independent and four dependent variables. The independent variables included wheelchairs, with the levels active wheelchair with a rigid frame and passive wheelchair with foldable frame; conditions with the levels straight line, slalom, and agility; and speed with levels comfortable and fast. Dependent variables included oxygen uptake (VO2), distance travelled, speed, and perceived exertion. Results show that the active wheelchair yielded more beneficial characteristics although only the effect of wheelchair type on VO2 efficiency (oxygen uptake per meter travelled) was statistically significant with a large effect size (F1,14=118.298,p<0.001, η2=0.541). The better VO2 efficiency was achieved with the active wheelchair under all tested conditions. The effect of wheelchair type on Borg scores was also statistically significant, although with a small effect size (F1,14=10.340,p=0.006, η2=0.119); thus, active wheelchair use had lower Borg scores under all trials and was considered less exhausting than the passive wheelchair. In summary, use of the active wheelchair resulted in the users expending less energy per meter travelled and at the same time experiencing less fatigue. This may benefit overall wheelchair mobility and possibly reduce health complications.
O design de próteses para pessoas com amputação ou má-formação de membros é uma das aplicações em Tecnologia Assistiva (TA) expressivamente beneficiadas pelos avanços tecnológicos em processos, ...sistemas e materiais. Entretanto, muitos aspectos deste produto ainda representam problemas ergonômicos que comprometem o conforto e usabilidade, tais como a interface entre o coto e soquete. Este estudo teve como objetivo descrever, por meio de um estudo de caso, a aplicação dos princípios do Design Centrado no Usuário (DCU) associado às Tecnologias de Prototipagem Rápida (TPR) no desenvolvimento de um soquete para uma prótese transradial. O processo envolveu a participação de um adulto do gênero masculino e com má-formação congênita do membro superior esquerdo. Foram desenvolvidas e avaliadas quatro alternativas de soquete e, após avaliação com o usuário, foi desenvolvido um liner a partir da última alternativa, que foi considerada segura e confortável pelo participante. Portanto, observou-se que a integração entre DCU e TPR permitiu o aprimoramento dos aspectos ergonômicos do design da interface, demonstrando assim potencial para contribuir para o aperfeiçoamento de outras TA.
A pessoa com deficiência é socialmente caracterizada por suas limitações e pelos dispositivos assistivos. Em especial a Cadeira de rodas (CR) é uma Tecnologia Assistiva vista como socialmente ...limitante. Isto pode influenciar a experiência emocional com estes produtos estigmatizados. Este estudo buscou compreender como o gênero influencia a percepção emocional de usuários de CR a partir da análise de duas diferentes ferramentas metodológicas: autorrelato (EMOG) e fisiológica (FaceReader®). Participaram do estudo 20 usuários de CR, sendo 10 do gênero masculino e 10 do gênero feminino (idade média de 41,76 anos e dp. 11,34). Assim, foi possível qualificar e quantificar a emoção desses usuários, e os resultados alcançados com o presente estudo permitem afirmar que tanto o Emog quanto o FaceReader® identificam que os participantes do gênero masculino demonstram emoções mais positivas e com maior intensidade, se comparado aos participantes do gênero feminino.
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