An Interactive Training Platform to Improve Manual Wheelchair Skills

该项目将人机交互和计算机视觉相结合，为家庭互动轮椅技能培训提供平台。在英国，有1000多万人患有残疾，120万人患有行动不便，需要每天使用轮椅。英国各地获得轮椅技能培训的机会有限，年轻人的培训率低于20%，这降低了行动不便的人的独立性，不仅对个人的生活质量产生了深远的影响，还导致了由于缺乏体力活动而导致的医疗状况，增加了医疗系统的经济压力。该项目通过开发互动培训计划来解决这一挑战，以促进家庭轮椅技能培训。它建立在计算机视觉和人机交互研究的基础上，提供一个激励用户参与的培训平台，并评估用户表现，以提供以前只能通过职业治疗师获得的运动准确性反馈。为此，该项目的第一阶段涉及轮椅技能培训的从业者和学术专家，以确定将纳入互动方法的最佳做法。在这些成果的基础上，项目第二阶段将提供一个轮椅/身体跟踪系统，该系统将整合到一个样本训练工具中。该应用程序将通过指导用户进行培训练习来设计为适合家庭使用，并为他们提供关于准确性和整体性能的反馈。在最后阶段，将与最终用户和专家一起评估样本培训工具，以深入了解技能培训的适宜性以及对用户体验的看法，并为开发全面的互动培训应用程序铺平道路。虽然该项目探索以手动轮椅技能培训为主要应用背景，但预计它将为残疾人的技术支持的身体活动做出重大贡献，并导致围绕探索互动技术作为改善边缘群体生活质量的手段的更广泛的研究议程。

This project integrates Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Vision to provide a platform for in-home interactive wheelchair skills training. In the UK, more than ten million people live with a disability, and 1.2 million people have a mobility disability that requires the use of a wheelchair on a daily basis. Limited access to wheelchair skills training across the UK with training rates below 20% among young people reduces the independence of persons with mobility impairments, not just profoundly impacting quality of life of the individual, but also leading to medical conditions that result from a lack of physical activity, increasing financial pressure on healthcare systems. This project addresses this challenge through the development of an interactive training program to facilitate in-home wheelchair skills training. It builds on research in computer vision and human-computer interaction to provide a training platform that motivates user engagement, and assesses user performance to provide feedback on movement accuracy previously only available through occupational therapists. To this end, the first stage of this project involves practitioners and academic experts on wheelchair skills training to identify best practices to be integrated into interactive approaches. Based on these results, the second stage of project will provide a wheelchair/body tracking system that is integrated into a sample training tool. This application will be designed to be suited for in-home use by guiding users through training exercises, and provides them with feedback on accuracy and overall performance. In the final stage, the sample training tool will be evaluated together with end-users and experts to gain insights into suitability for skills training along with perspectives on user experience, and pave the way for the development of a comprehensive interactive training application.While the project explores manual wheelchair skills training as the primary application context, it is expected that it will make a significant contribution to technology-supported physical activity for persons with disabilities, and lead to a wider research agenda around the exploration of interactive technologies as a means of improving quality of life of marginalized groups.