1. Mobile Rehab &
Assistive Tech
Tuesday, May 21, 13

2. Introduction
Hi.
I’m Ted O’Meara.
I build software for users.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

3. Services
User
Experience
App
Development
Data
Services
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4. Research
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5. Focus at UMBC
Assistive Technology
Cognitive Psychology
Mobile Rehabilitation
Visualization for Cognitive Deficiencies
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6. Rehabilitation
Tuesday, May 21, 13

7. Benefits & Concerns
Benefits
•Physician intervention
•Real-time patient analysis
•Guided in-home rehab
•Escalation of emergencies
Challenges
•Adoption
•Incorrect completion of exercises
•Inaccurate reporting of data
•Range of ability
Tuesday, May 21, 13

8. Structure of Mobile Rehab
Typical structure for mobile rehabilitation
•User component
•Caregiver component
•Unobtrusive caregiver intervention and user self observation
Walters, D., Sarela, A., Fairfull, A., Neighbour, K., Cowen, C., Stephens, B., ... & Karunanithi, M. (2010).
A mobile phone-based care model for outpatient cardiac rehabilitation: the care assessment
platform (CAP). BMC cardiovascular disorders, 10(1), 5.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

9. Monitoring & Rehab
•Biofeedback
•Instant alert and
real-time feedback
•Central hub
for peripherals
Leijdekkers, P., & Gay, V. (2006, June). Personal heart monitoring and
rehabilitation system using smart phones. In Mobile Business, 2006. ICMB'06.
International Conference on (pp. 29-29). IEEE.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

10. Rehab Startups
Wellfra.me Rehabtics
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11. Stroke &
Older Adults
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12. Older Adults
Physiological systems decline with the
advance of age, which can inhibit
interaction with technology and other
functions of everyday life. Some of the
major areas of decline are with the
cognitive suite and motor function.
Affects of these impairments can lead
to disability with older individuals, and
their capacity to care for themselves.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

13. Older Adults
Most of us will be considered disabled
at some point in our lives.
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14. CogConnect
•9-Hole Peg Test
•Fitts’ Law Test
•Steering Test
•IMI & EMI Surveys
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15. CogConnect
•9-Hole Peg Test
•Fitts’ Law Test
•Steering Test
•IMI & EMI Surveys
Tuesday, May 21, 13

16. CogConnect
•9-Hole Peg Test
•Fitts’ Law Test
•Steering Test
•IMI & EMI Surveys
Tuesday, May 21, 13

17. CogConnect
•9-Hole Peg Test
•Fitts’ Law Test
•Steering Test
•IMI & EMI Surveys
Tuesday, May 21, 13

18. CogConnect
•9-Hole Peg Test
•Fitts’ Law Test
•Steering Test
•IMI & EMI Surveys
• The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory
(IMI) is a multidimensional
measurement device intended to
assess participants' subjective
experience related to a target
activity in laboratory experiments.
• The EMI consists of 23 statements
divided into three sub-scores for
physical, psychological and social
motivation.
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19. Findings
•Older adults have a vast
range of physical
capabilities and
attention spans
•Do not under-estimate
the abilities of older
users, but do allow
configuration and
customization of
skill levels
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20. Findings
•Some older adults and
stroke patients show
great difficulty with the
ballistic phase of touches
•Speech audio hindered,
rather than helped the
rehabilitation process
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21. Assistive Tech
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22. Universal Design
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23. Universal Design
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/
the-principles-of-universal-design/
1. Equitable use
2. Flexibility in use
3. Simple and intuitive
4. Perceptible information
5. Tolerance for error
6. Low physical effort
7. Size and space for
approach and use
Ronald Mace
NC State University
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24. Universal Design
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/
the-principles-of-universal-design/
1. Equitable use
2. Flexibility in use
3. Simple and intuitive
4. Perceptible information
5. Tolerance for error
6. Low physical effort
7. Size and space for
approach and use
The design is useful and
marketable to people with
diverse abilities.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

25. Universal Design
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/
the-principles-of-universal-design/
1. Equitable use
2. Flexibility in use
3. Simple and intuitive
4. Perceptible information
5. Tolerance for error
6. Low physical effort
7. Size and space for
approach and use
The design accommodates
a wide range of individual
preferences and abilities.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

26. Universal Design
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/
the-principles-of-universal-design/
1. Equitable use
2. Flexibility in use
3. Simple and intuitive
4. Perceptible information
5. Tolerance for error
6. Low physical effort
7. Size and space for
approach and use
Use of the design is easy
to understand, regardless
of the user’s experience,
knowledge, language
skills, or current
concentration level.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

27. Universal Design
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/
the-principles-of-universal-design/
1. Equitable use
2. Flexibility in use
3. Simple and intuitive
4. Perceptible information
5. Tolerance for error
6. Low physical effort
7. Size and space for
approach and use
The design communicates
necessary information
effectively to the user,
regardless of ambient
conditions or the user’s
sensory abilities.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

28. Universal Design
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/
the-principles-of-universal-design/
1. Equitable use
2. Flexibility in use
3. Simple and intuitive
4. Perceptible information
5. Tolerance for error
6. Low physical effort
7. Size and space for
approach and use
The design minimizes
hazards and the adverse
consequences of accidental
or unintended actions.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

29. Universal Design
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/
the-principles-of-universal-design/
1. Equitable use
2. Flexibility in use
3. Simple and intuitive
4. Perceptible information
5. Tolerance for error
6. Low physical effort
7. Size and space for
approach and use
The design can be used
efficiently and
comfortably and with a
minimum of fatigue.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

30. Universal Design
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/
the-principles-of-universal-design/
1. Equitable use
2. Flexibility in use
3. Simple and intuitive
4. Perceptible information
5. Tolerance for error
6. Low physical effort
7. Size and space for
approach and use
Appropriate size and
space is provided for
approach, reach,
manipulation, and use
regardless of user’s body
size, posture, or mobility.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

31. iPhone Universal Design
•AssistiveTouch (Motor)
•VoiceOver (Vision)
•Invert Colors (Vision)
•Speak Selection (Vision)
•Guided Access (Cognitive)
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32. Assistive Touch
Allows the user to complete
gestures through only
touches, instead of swipes
and pinches.
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33. VoiceOver
The user can pre-select a
button or object, have the
device speak the title back,
and chose to select the
button or not.
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34. Future Universal Design
LeapMotion MYOEmotiv
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35. Research
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36. Swabbing (Motor)
Problem
Individuals with tremor
have difficulty selecting
items by touch.
Solution
Use the friction of the
touchscreen to reduce
tremor and increase
accuracy.
Mertens, A. and Jochems, N. Design pattern TRABING: touchscreen-based input
technique for people affected by intention tremor. Proceedings of the 2nd …,
(2010), 267–272.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

37. Mobility-For-All (Cognitive)
Problem
Individuals with learning
disabilities need to be
independent, but
caregivers should be able
to support.
Solution
Use contextual
information with mobile
tech to build a support
system.
Carmien, S., Dawe, M., Fischer, G., Gorman, A., Kintsch, A., & Sullivan Jr, J. F.
(2005). Socio-technical environments supporting people with cognitive
disabilities using public transportation. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human
Interaction (TOCHI), 12(2), 233-262.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

38. BoardSpeak (Multiple)
Problem
AAC devices are
expensive, and have low
adoption rates
Solution
Use create software for a
device that the disabled
individual already uses
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39. VizWiz (Vision)
Problem
OCR software (such as
Kurzweil knReader) is
expensive.
Solution
Use crowdsourcing to
gain understanding of
surroundings.
Bigham, J. P., Jayant, C., Ji, H., Little, G., Miller, A., Miller, R. C., ... & Yeh, T. (2010,
October). VizWiz: nearly real-time answers to visual questions. InProceedings of
the 23nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
(pp. 333-342). ACM.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

40. ActiveBelt (Vision)
Problem
Visually impaired
individuals have trouble
navigating.
Solution
Use GPS in conjunction
with 360 haptic feedback
to guide the individual.
Tsukada, K., & Yasumura, M. (2004). Activebelt: Belt-type wearable tactile
display for directional navigation. In UbiComp 2004: Ubiquitous Computing (pp.
384-399). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Vladimir Zlokazov on Flickr
Tuesday, May 21, 13

41. INREDIS (Multiple)
Problem
ATMs are difficult for
many different
disabilities, and do not
follow Universal Design
Solution
Use a device that has
already been adopted by
affected individuals
Pous, M., Serra-Vallmitjana, C., Giménez, R., Torrent-Moreno, M., & Boix, D. (2012,
January). Enhancing accessibility: Mobile to ATM case study. InConsumer
Communications and Networking Conference (CCNC), 2012 IEEE(pp. 404-408). IEEE.
Tuesday, May 21, 13

42. Conclusion
All of these scenarios can be applied to
those without disabilities.
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43. Universal design is
successful design.
Vladimir Zlokazov on Flickr
Tuesday, May 21, 13

44. The End
Thank you!
@tomeara
ted@tedomeara.com
Tuesday, May 21, 13