The most ubiquitous assistive machine is the power wheelchair. It endows independent mobility to many with motor impairments that result from disease or injury. Yet, there are millions for whom the independent operation of power wheelchairs remains overly burdensome, or even entirely inaccessible. The driving factors are (1) a lack of assistance options that ensure safety and efficacy—for all wheelchair operators, even those with severe motor constraints—and (2) a deficiency of current interfaces’ ability to effectively capture control commands from bodies with limited movement abilities. The result is a deprivation—for persons with disabilities, and their caregivers—of independence and engagement within the community and workforce. We propose to accelerate the accessibility and utility of power wheelchairs by radically changing how control inputs are captured from the human body and communicated to the machine, and by leveraging practical machine intelligence to enhance safety and facilitate independent wheelchair operation.
Our primary goal is to accelerate the accessibility of independent wheelchair operation by severely motor impaired populations—promoting their personal independence, and reducing caregiver burden. Our secondary goal is to translate our advances in accessible interfaces and input mechanisms from wheelchairs to computer use, with impact now beyond mobility and power wheelchairs to more effective engagement in the workforce. We will achieve these goals through the following research thrusts:
• Thrust 1: Advancing safety and independence with wheelchair intelligence, through expanded wheelchair assistance that brings to market active assistance strategies within the only commercially-available, FDA registered driver assistance system for power wheelchairs.
• Thrust 2: Modernizing and democratizing the development of future wheelchair input mechanisms, through the contribution of an open-source and digital API for bilateral communication between wheelchair control systems and input devices.
• Thrust 3: Bridging the gap in accessible wheelchair control between drivers who can operate a joystick and those who cannot, through the contribution of a novel control interface that conforms to the user and offers fully expressive wheelchair control.
• The Open Access Technology Foundation: A foundation to facilitate and promote expanded and open access to and interfacing with technology.
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