INOVATELL - INNOVATIVE TOUCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES FOR PEOPLE WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES: SLOVENIAN PRELIMINARY RESEARCH

• Main Author: Črtomir Bitenc, Zdenka Wltavsky
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: CEOs Ltd. 2019-05-01
• Series: Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences
• Subjects: touchless technologies; people with severe disabilities
• Online Access: http://www.iiass.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1103

University Rehabilitation Institute, Republic of Slovenia was a partner in the EU project INOVATELL, which purpose was to develop and implement a technological solution that will help people with limited hands functions to use computers by remotely controlling specialised software on them using only the head or hand movements. Beside the Tool also learning contents, which consisted of different learning topics was designed. The leading research question was whether INOVATELL Tool and learning topics represent a good and solid solution for people with physical motor disabilities, who cannot use or face difficulties to use standard keyboard or mouse to access the computer for education, communication, and entertainment. Objective was tested via a set of questionnaires and observational grid on a small sample of 6 Slovenian people with physical disability. Participants reported about their experiences with INOVATELL interface as being simple to use and its learning content being clear and understandable. Based on the positive preliminary results the conclusion is that the INOVATELL solution indeed can improve the quality, accessibility, and efficiency of the vocational training, communication, and also entertainment of people with severe disabilities, though future research on a bigger scale would be very welcome.