Att göra för att förstå - konstruktion för rehabilitering

Based on the results of two rehabilitation engineering design projects,

this thesis aims to present and analyze:

? What is required for genuine engineering knowledge and

expertise to come into its own in rehabilitation engineering

when the entire effort starts and ends with the person

for whom it is intended.

? How the work of an engineer not only can improve the

conditions for the actual doing, but can also contribute to

the understanding of situations and people, their capabilities,

desires and needs.

The two projects, The Minimeter and Reading with Hands, are both

based on and contribute not only to rehabilitation but also to the

engineering context. My thesis comprises the work of an engineer

from the earliest idea stage up to the final results that are first realized

when the implementations are used by other people and can

be assessed by them.

The Minimeter is a communication tool for people with severe

brain injuries. It enables communication, starting at the yes-no

level, for people with exceedingly limited mobility and extensive

cognitive difficulties. Standard hardware combined with specially

designed software is used to detect even minor movements and for

example to make them steer a rolling ball on a computer screen.

This yes-no interface inspires the user to act and yields continuous

feedback and control.

Reading with hands is a system for computer based recording

and automatic tracking of finger movements when reading Braille

and in tactile picture recognition. It makes it easy to analyze the

process and to draw conclusions, among them pedagogical ones

with implications for future tactile reading training for children or

adults who are blind. For the first time it is possible to automatically

follow how the fingers move over the Braille text while the

person is reading (aloud or silently). The finger movements can be

compared to sighted persons? eye movements while reading standard

print. Comparisons can also be made between the finger exploration

of a tactile face picture by a blind person and the corresponding

eye movements by a sighted person.