Enabling Technologies for People with Disabilities (ENABLE)

Abstract

Certain life events such as accidents, inherent or acquired diseases can suddenly or in the long-term lead to the fact, that different activities cannot be performed (anymore) or only with increasing difficulty. People with disabilities often face challenges in their (instrumental) activities of daily living, and therefore may need the support of formal or informal caregivers. This support can also be provided or supplemented by assistive technologies, which in some case are already established in everyday life. Those affected are supported, inter alia, in their autonomy, independence, safety or well-being, which in the long term leads to more inclusion and participation, to take over the foreseen or typical (social) roles (enabling technologies). Support through technologies can cover different areas of life such as leisure time or work as well as different settings such as the private living space (e.g. through smart homes or assistance of robotics) or areas outside the living environment (e.g. through wearables or smartphone apps).

The basic idea of assistive technology, which is the support of people in their individual needs, underlines the main motivation of this workshop. The focus lies on the direct support of people with disabilities through assistive technologies. This may for example include support in everyday activities through instructions for daily living tasks, technologies for alternative communication, aids to support mobility, orientation aids or aids for barrier-free access at work, in public and in private.

Goals

In this workshop, we would like to discuss assistive technologies that aim to support people with disabilities in their daily lives. We invite researchers to submit their contributions from different areas of assistive technologies, developed by and for people with disabilities. Included are all types of directly assistive technologies that assist people with various disabilities, both physical and mental. Explicit emphasis is laid on a participatory research approach. In addition to papers addressing the development of assistive technologies, contributions on the evaluation of technologies with different stakeholders as well as ethical and data protection considerations are expected accordingly. Due to the broad spectrum of possible fields of application, which result from the different resources and needs of the users, researchers from different disciplines should be brought together within the framework of the workshop.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to

• Assistive technologies to support autonomy, independence, safety, well-being
• Alternative communication
• Wearables
• Alternative input devices
• Smart Home Systems
• Assistive apps / software
• Robotics and embodied agents
• Ethics, data security and privacy aspects
• Participatory research

Workshop Organizers