Catering for Personal Autonomy with E-Mentoring Supported by Recommendations

This chapter presents a technology solution based on a recommender system supporting people with intellectual disabilities in their work integration and independent life, in the scope of the CISVI and AMI4Inclusicion research projects. Information and Communication Technologies are essential for supporting personal autonomy and improving the quality of life of disabled people. The technology can contribute in a twofold way: (1) facilitating the work of the human mentor when training people with intellectual disabilities and (2) automatically offering them advice and recommendations in response to certain cues/actions detected in the environment.

Human-Centered Metal Hydride Actuator Systems for Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology

Metal hydride materials can store a huge amount of hydrogen and can convert energy due to enthalpy change through a hydride reaction. Artificial actuation systems that employ this special physicochemical property are named metal hydride actuators. The actuators utilize the mechanical energy formed from hydrogen equilibrium pressure through thermal energy given to the metal hydride alloys as output. Metal hydride actuators have a simple structure and a number of features that make them attractive for use in rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology. They provide a high power-to-weight ratio, high strain actuation, human-compatible softness and noiselessness, and they are environmentally benign. The behavior of metal hydride actuators is also useful for overall human-machine interface applications. This article reviews the motivation for the development of some of the leading artificial muscle-like actuators, outlines the metal hydride actuators and describes its applications in quality-of-life technology.

Experience Using Information and Communication Technologies with Elderly People

The elderly show very low rates of access to and use of the new technologies in comparison with their significant weight in the overall population. It is essential to establish alternatives which respond to their needs and promote the access to and use of ICTs among all citizens on equal conditions. This chapter describes an experiment conducted with new technologies in the Red Cross Elderly Day Care Centre in A Coruña, using the In-TIC software and a specific methodology for intervention with elderly individuals. Three different lines of action were followed: initial evaluation of the users participating in the project; intervention by means of digital literacy and therapeutic stimulation sessions with the ICT; and final re-evaluation and data collection. The results obtained provide proof of an improvement in the users’ cognitive abilities, the acquisition of computer knowledge and skills, and the satisfaction of the elderly with regard to new technologies.

Wireless Sensor Networks and Systems

Sensor networks are one of the most powerful technologies applied to control and supervising systems. They are present in almost all environments, so we can find them in different industrial, medical, security and/or home applications. In addition, the use of wireless technologies applied to sensor networks improves the final system. Examples given are the enlargement of the coverage area and the low deployment costs. Nowadays a combination of both items is used in many common implementations of a wide variety of applications. This chapter is focused on the use of sensor networks applied to disabled and elderly people. We will study the wireless technologies most used for this purpose and we will show a survey with the benefits when they are applied.

Blind User Interfacing

There are specific usability requirements for developing dual interfaces, that is, graphical user interfaces that are also adapted for blind users. These include task adequacy, dimensional trade-off, behavior equivalence, semantic loss avoidance and device-independence. Consequently, the development of human-computer interfaces based on task, domain, dialog, presentation, platform and user models has to be modified to take into account these requirements. This paper presents the requirements for blind user interfacing, the changes to be made to the human-computer interface models and a framework that improves the development of dual user interfaces. The framework includes a set of guidelines for interface design, a toolkit for the low effort implementation of dual user interfaces, and a programming library for the inclusion of speech and Braille in applications. A case study of the development of one such dual interface application is also presented.

Web Accessibility

Web accessibility conjures the vision of designers, technologists, and researchers valiantly making the World–Wide–Web (Web) open to disabled users. While this maybe true in part, the reality is a little different. Indeed, Web accessibility is actually about correcting our past mistakes by making the current Web fulfill the original Web vision of access for all. It just so happens that in the process of trying to re-engineer these corrections, that have for the most part ignored, we may solve a number of ‘larger–scale’ usability issues faced by every Web user. Indeed, by understanding disabled–user’s interaction we enhance our understanding of all users operating in constrained modalities where the user is disabled by both environment and technology. It is for this reason that Web accessibility is a natural preface to wider Web usability and universal accessibility, it is also why ‘main–stream’ technologist take it so seriously and understand its cross-over benefits.

The Role of Sensory Rhythmic Stimulation on Motor Rehabilitation in Parkinson’s Disease (PD)

In the last years the role of sensory rhythmic stimulation (SRS) on motor rehabilitation in PD has become a new line of interest for researches and therapists given the promising results reported in scientific literature. This kind of strategies present a whole range of features which make it very appealing for its daily use, namely, they are easy to use, they have not distorting side-effects, and, chiefly, their effectiveness have been reported either in presence as in absence of antiparkinsonian medication.

Elderly People, Disability, Dependence and New Technologies

The potential impact of new assistive technologies to help people stay in their own homes for longer, age well and independently is a crucial challenge for future empowerment of the elderly. The main goals of this chapter are to draw attention to the characteristics of the elderly population and their situation regarding the increase in life expectancy and aging-related aspects, increasing the risk of disability and dependence. Notably, the role of information and communication technologies as supportive tools can help the elderly to improve their quality of life and independence. Services adapted to this population, e.g., tele-health, domotics or robotics, are examined in the text. We also look at the most relevant future opportunities and challenges to society towards new products and services.

Telegerontology®

One of the priorities of a modern society must be to offer all individuals the possibility to access all resources available. In this sense, there are still great differences even among well-developed countries when it comes to facing shortages in two important groups, elderly people and disabled people, even more so in the case of elderly people who are also disabled. The amazing progress of remote ICT applied to this field has meant spectacular advances, some of which will be described in this chapter. We will also devote one section to future tendencies and finally, we will focus on the system called Telegerontology®, which apart from including the basic principles of accessibility and usability, also includes those of gerontology attention, i.e., the capacity to assess the patient before the intervention.