Firsthand Experiences
Guest speakers and field trips with my Assistive Tech Innovations course!
Permobil with Melissa
This class was my first experience in a power chair, let alone an eye-gaze powered one! I never would have imagined I’d get to have this experience. Driving a power chair with my eyes gives me so much perspective on people who do so every day; as a designer, I appreciate the importance of truly understanding the user base you’re designing for, and this experience gave me that understanding.
iBOT with Mallory
I felt very lucky to have tried not one but two power chairs in this course. The iBOT is extremely unique for its Balance Mode, where the two wheels stack and raise someone up to standing eye level. We also got to see the iBOT climb stairs! The iBOT solidified my fascination with power chairs that empower the user to truly live their life to the fullest, highest heights (haha). It also reminded me to think outside of the box and design truly innovative and unique products.
HRI Labs with Dr. Scheutz and Dr. Short
We visited Dr. Scheutz’s Human-Robot Interaction Laboratory and Dr. Short’s Assistive Agent Behavior and Learning Lab, where we observed the most innovative robot technology and use cases (and tried out the Jaco!). I was interested to discover that Spot (yellow robot) is a bit scary in action. These tours gave me hope that people are making good advances in robotic assistive tech but also reminded me about the importance of perceived comfort when developing a robot companion.
WheretoWheel with David
The most powerful part of David’s presentation was his own story. I really appreciated how he made sure we understood that mental health plays such a huge factor in recovery, and made himself a resource for activities promoting mental health. I loved hearing him review the accessibility of a bathroom; I never knew how many factors go into the design of a bathroom, and now I am a better designer because of his knowledge. + I’ve downloaded WheretoWheel!
AAC Devices with Jen
Jen brought in many brands of eye gaze and head tracking alternative access communication devices for us to try. These AAC devices were one of my first pieces of AT that I ever got to experience. I particularly appreciated the screen on the back of the AAC devices where other people can read the user’s message, as well as the different language features with native-speaker voiceovers. Eye tracking definitely takes a lot of practice and calibration, but eventually I crafted spoken messages!