SGER: Personal Augmentation Devices (PADs): Exploratory Agents To Enable Tele-Interaction, Evaluation, and Development of Abilities in Persons with Severe Disabilities

该奖项在SGER模式下，资助由生理信号控制的个人设备的初步探索和原型设计，以增强人体功能。目标是为患有严重运动障碍的儿童提供一种可以在他们控制下导航和操纵外部环境的设备。这种设备的影响将是提供一个探索性代理，允许孩子远程互动，从而释放他/她的认知能力，促进好奇心和探索的权利感，并允许个人发展继续。本文将讨论三个主要假设：(1)在严重残疾儿童的控制下，远程“个人机器人装置”可以促进认知和运动发育；(2)利用细微的生理信号控制设备，通过多感官反馈优化界面；(3)设备的动作与用户密切相关，可以作为一种新技术来评估尚未阐明能力的儿童。

This award, in the SGER mode, funds an initial exploration and prototyping of personal devices, controlled by physiological signals, for the purpose of augmenting human function. The objective is to provide children who have severe motor disabilities, a device that can navigate and manipulate the external environment under their control. The impact of such a device will be to provide an exploratory agent that would allow the child to tele-interact, thereby unlocking his/her cognitive abilities, promoting curiosity and a sense of entitlement to explore, and allowing personal development to continue. Three primary hypotheses will be addressed: (1) a remote "personal robotic device" under the control of a child with a severe disability can promote cognitive and motor development; (2) the interface can be optimized by using subtle physiological signals to control the device and multisensory feedback; and (3) the actions of the device, which is intimately connected to the user, can be used as a new technique to evaluate children whose capabilities have not yet been elucidated.