Innovations in Assistive Technologies for a Remote and Socially Distanced Environment
Problem or Issue. The goal of the project is to rethink our current understanding of assistive technologies under constraints of social distancing. Beyond the current boundaries of the current COVID-19 pandemic, this IPRO seeks to identify potential changes in operating norms and social protocols as a consequence of this prolonged period of remote work and isolation. With this understanding, this IPRO in areas of education, teamwork and assistive technologies for a remote and assistive technologies.
This IPRO will focus on two key areas:
- Assistive Technologies for people with developmental, intellectual or physical disabilities in a socially distanced environment. Adults and children dealing with any of these conditions undergo substantial physical therapy and rehabilitative treatments for managing their condition as they work towards treatment. There is a huge need for innovations in this area, some of which have been identified in this article: http://www.slideshare.net/Healthstartup/hsu5-topic-presentationfinal.
- Innovations in K-12 learning for children with special needs to enable engaged remote learning. Students with special needs have requirements that are very challenging in a remote environment where individualized needs are unique to each child. There is a significant need for innovations that enable personal engagement, teaching and communication to support their growth and development. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/24/health/special-needs-students-online-learning-wellness/index.html
This IPRO will investigate how devices for rehab, special needs and assistive technology designs can be simplified through the use of lighter, inexpensive (yet sturdy) material for design, electromechanical actuators and user feedback options that are modular and can easily be integrated into devices currently in the market.
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/06/943647610/he-designed-a-smartwatch-app-to-help-stop-his-dads-nightmares
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