A survey on the influence of CYBATHLON on the development and acceptance of advanced assistive technologies

• Published in: Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation 2022-04, Vol.19 (1), p.38-38, Article 38
• Main Authors: Meyer, Jan T, Weber, Selina, Jäger, Lukas, Sigrist, Roland, Gassert, Roger, Lambercy, Olivier
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptive technology; Advanced assistive technology; Behavior; Competition; CYBATHLON; Design; Disabilities; Disabled Persons; Evaluation; Exoskeleton; Forecasts and trends; Handicapped accessibility; Handicapped assistance devices; Health behavior; Humans; Likert scale; People with disabilities; Polls & surveys; Prosthesis; Quality of Life; Robotics; Self-Help Devices; Self-help devices for the disabled; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teams; Technology utilization; Usability; User needs; User satisfaction; User-centered design; Wheelchair
• ISSN: 1743-0003; 1743-0003
• DOI: 10.1186/s12984-022-01015-5

Advanced assistive technologies (AAT) aim to exploit the vast potential of technological developments made in the past decades to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. Combining complex robotic technologies with the unique needs of people with disabilities requires a strong focus on user-centered design to ensure that the AAT appropriately addresses the daily life struggles of target users. The CYBATHLON aims to promote this mindset by empowering the AAT target users ("pilots") to compete on race tracks that represent approximations of daily life obstacles. The objective of this work was to investigate the AAT technology development, usability, and user involvement (i.e., application of user-centered design) in the context of the CYBATHLON. With an online survey targeting the pilots and technical leads of teams preparing for the CYBATHLON 2020 Global Edition, we investigated to what extent the pilots were involved in device development and how this influences the perceived usability of the showcased AAT. Furthermore, the effects of user-centered design variables on the individual race performances were analyzed. A total of 81 responses from 35 pilots and 46 technical leads were collected in the two weeks prior to the event. Of all teams partaking in the included disciplines of the CYBATHLON 2020 Global Edition, 81.8% (36 of 44) were included in the study. User-centered design appeared to be a prevalent practice among the teams, as 85.7% of all pilots reported a certain level of involvement. However, only 25.5% of the pilots reported daily life usage, despite QUEST usability scores of both respondent groups showing moderate to high satisfaction with the respected AAT across all investigated disciplines. An explorative linear mixed model indicated that daily life usage (p