Empowering Occupational Therapists with a DIY-toolkit for Smart Soft Objects

Abstract

We present an evaluation of a DIY-toolkit, designed to empower caregivers to create tailor-made, unique assistive solutions for their clients. More specifically, the toolkit aims to enable occupational therapists to turn everyday soft objects into smart devices that can be programmed to recognize certain manipulations. These smart objects can then be used to control applications or to play certain games. Our evaluation reveals that occupational therapists were able to make use of the toolkit without the aid of a technical expert. The therapists hacked everyday objects such as cushions, socks, cuddly toys and repurposed them for therapy. They computationally augmented them and tailored them to clients' needs and desires. From our evaluation, we also derive five guidelines that can inform others when creating DIY-toolkits for assistive technology.