Search Results (62)

Wheelchair basketball (WB) grants important benefits for people with disabilities but also presents a relevant risk of injury. Wheelchair straps are restraint devices that can improve safety and performance, but limited research has explored their use in WB. This study aims to analyze the use of different types of straps among professional WB players, according to classification score. A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey. Participants were divided into two groups based on classification score: low-point players (LPPs; 1.0–2.5), who have greater physical impairment, and high-point players (HPPs; 3.0–4.5), who have lower physical impairment. A total of 82 WB players participated (43 LPPs; 39 HPPs). The Chi-squared test was used to compare variables between groups. Significant differences emerged: chest (p = 0.036), abdominal (p = 0.036), and foot (p = 0.016) straps were more frequently used by LPPs, while thigh (p = 0.020) and leg (p = 0.050) straps were more common among HPPs. No significant difference was found for pelvic strap. Straps used in WB vary with classification score, reflecting the influence of functional ability. These findings offer insights into individualized wheelchair setup and classification procedures. Further studies are needed to expand knowledge on this topic. Full article

Manual wheelchair users are at high risk of upper limb overuse injuries due to repetitive propulsion mechanics. To address this, we developed a novel detachable push–pull dual-propulsion device that enables both forward and backward propulsion, aiming to reduce shoulder strain and promote balanced muscle engagement. This study presents a protocol to evaluate the device’s biomechanical impact and ergonomic effects, focusing on objective, quantitative analysis using a repeated-measures within-subject design. Thirty participants with spinal cord injury will perform standardized propulsion trials under two conditions: push and pull. Motion capture and surface electromyography (EMG) will assess upper limb kinematics and muscle activation. Each propulsion mode will be repeated over a 10-m track, and maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) data will be collected for EMG normalization. The protocol aims to provide objective evidence on the propulsion efficiency, muscle distribution, and ergonomic safety of the device. Findings will inform future assistive technology development and rehabilitation guidelines for manual wheelchair users. Full article

This study evaluates the safety aspects of a prototype electric vehicle designed to enable wheelchair users to independently perform simple farm tasks in rural settings, like sample collection and crop monitoring. The vehicle, built at CREA, features four in-wheel electric motors, a pneumatic suspension system, and a secure wheelchair anchoring system. Tests at the CREA experimental farm assessed the vehicle’s whole-body vibrations on different surfaces (asphalt, headland, dirt road) using two tyre models and multiple speeds. A triaxial accelerometer on the wheelchair seat measured vibrations, which were analysed in accordance with ISO standards. Frequency analysis revealed significant vibrations in the 2–40 Hz range, with the Z-axis consistently showing the highest accelerations, which increased with the speed. Tyre A generally induced higher vibrations than Tyre B, likely due to the tread design. At high speeds, the effective accelerations exceeded safety thresholds on asphalt and headland. Statistical analysis confirmed speed as the dominant factor, with the surface type also playing a key role—headland generated the highest vibrations, followed by dirt road and asphalt. The results of these first tests highlighted the high potential of the vehicle to improve the agricultural mobility of disabled people, granting safety conditions and low vibration levels on all terrains at speeds up to 10 km h⁻¹. At higher speeds, however, the vibration levels may exceed the exposure limits, depending on the irregularities of the terrain and the tyre model. Overcoming these limitations is achievable through the optimization of the suspensions and tyres and will be the subject of the next step of this study. This technology could also support wheelchair users in construction, natural parks, and urban mobility. Full article

Accessible housing plays a vital role in promoting independent living and quality of life for people with disabilities. However, the existing design standards often fail to address the specific needs of diverse disability groups. This study aims to establish architectural and habitability criteria for housing adapted to various disabilities, including wheelchair users, individuals with achondroplasia (little people), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Down syndrome, individuals with visual and hearing impairments, and older adults, by integrating international frameworks and prior research. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to prioritize key factors in the housing design. The factors analyzed included autonomy, independence, safety, comfort, communication, and mobility. Findings reveal that autonomy consistently emerged as the most relevant criterion across groups, particularly for older adults (61.8%), wheelchair users (83%) and little people (64%). Secondary priorities varied: mobility was emphasized by wheelchair users (77%), communication by visually impaired individuals (64%), and comfort by deaf and hard of hearing participants (43%). The results underscore the need for housing solutions that reflect the priorities of each disability group. This study contributes by validating user-centered design criteria and offering a framework to guide inclusive housing policies and practices. By highlighting needs, it bridges the gap between generic accessibility standards and design. These findings support policy development and enrich the literature by incorporating unique resident-centered perspectives and overlooked indicators of housing accessibility and inclusive residential design. Full article

Natural human–human communication consists of multiple modalities interacting together. When an intelligent robot or wheelchair is being developed, it is important to consider this aspect. One of the most common modality pairs in multimodal human–human communication is speech–hand gesture interaction. However, not all the hand gestures that can be identified in this type of interaction are useful. Some hand movements can be misinterpreted as useful hand gestures or intentional hand gestures. Failing to filter out these unintentional gestures could lead to severe faulty identifications of important hand gestures. When speech–hand gesture multimodal systems are designed for disabled/elderly users, the above-mentioned issue could result in grave consequences in terms of safety. Gesture identification systems developed for speech–hand gesture systems commonly use hand features and other gesture parameters. Hence, similar gesture features could result in the misidentification of an unintentional gesture as a known gesture. Therefore, in this paper, we have proposed an intelligent system to filter out these unnecessary gestures or unintentional gestures before the gesture identification process in multimodal navigational commands. Timeline parameters such as time lag, gesture range, gesture speed, etc., are used in this filtering system. They are calculated by comparing the vocal command timeline and gesture timeline. For the filtering algorithm, a combination of the Locally Weighted Naive Bayes (LWNB) and K-Nearest Neighbor Distance Weighting (KNNDW) classifiers is proposed. The filtering system performed with an overall accuracy of 94%, sensitivity of 97%, and specificity of 90%, and it had a Cohen’s Kappa value of 88%. Full article

Background: Prolonged manual wheelchair usage often leads to musculoskeletal disorders in the upper body of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) due to repetitive, unidirectional movements. To mitigate these issues, targeted exercise of the back muscles—particularly those involving pulling movements of the arms and shoulders—is recommended. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a detachable, two-way propulsion system for manual wheelchairs, enabling propulsion through both pushing forward and pulling backward on the wheelchair pushrims. Methods: The propulsion system was engineered using a planetary gear train to facilitate dual-direction propulsion. Specifically, the planetary gear reverses the rotational direction, allowing the wheelchair to advance forward even when users pull the pushrims backward. Thus, the wheelchair can move forward through either pushing forward or pulling backward actions. Results: A prototype of the proposed system was fabricated using 3D printing technology and its functionality was verified. The prototype successfully demonstrated the two-way propulsion capability and the operation of the attachment mechanism. Additionally, the pilot test confirmed that an individual with SCI was able to propel a manual wheelchair equipped with the two-way propulsion system using both propulsion methods and switch between the methods independently while maintaining stability and safety throughout the test. Conclusion: The developed detachable two-way propulsion system shows significant promise as both a mobility aid and an exercise device, potentially reducing musculoskeletal complications among individuals with SCI who regularly utilize manual wheelchairs. Full article

Background/Objectives: The study explores the integration of human feedback into the control loop of mobile robots for real-time obstacle detection and avoidance using EEG brain–computer interface (BCI) methods. The goal is to assess the possible paradigms applicable to the most current navigation system to enhance safety and interaction between humans and robots. Methods: The research explores passive and active brain–computer interface (BCI) technologies to enhance a wheelchair-mobile robot’s navigation. In the passive approach, error-related potentials (ErrPs), neural signals triggered when users comment or perceive errors, enable automatic correction of the robot navigation mistakes without direct input or command from the user. In contrast, the active approach leverages steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs), where users focus on flickering stimuli to control the robot’s movements directly. This study evaluates both paradigms to determine the most effective method for integrating human feedback into assistive robotic navigation. This study involves experimental setups where participants control a robot through a simulated environment, and their brain signals are recorded and analyzed to measure the system’s responsiveness and the user’s mental workload. Results: The results show that a passive BCI requires lower mental effort but suffers from lower engagement, with a classification accuracy of 72.9%, whereas an active BCI demands more cognitive effort but achieves 84.9% accuracy. Despite this, task achievement accuracy is higher in the passive method (e.g., 71% vs. 43% for subject S2) as a single correct ErrP classification enables autonomous obstacle avoidance, whereas SSVEP requires multiple accurate commands. Conclusions: This research highlights the trade-offs between accuracy, mental load, and engagement in BCI-based robot control. The findings support the development of more intuitive assistive robotics, particularly for disabled and elderly users. Full article

While autonomous wheelchairs reduce the burden on passengers, automation can make it difficult for them to anticipate the future path of the wheelchair, potentially causing anxiety or discomfort due to unexpected movements. In this study, we define “path” as the geometric trajectory of the wheelchair position, without considering temporal aspects. Providing passengers with information about this future path is crucial, particularly when multiple pedestrians or obstacles are present. Previous studies have primarily focused on presenting only the direction in which the wheelchair turns. In this study, we propose a path presentation method that conveys both the direction and width of turns by varying the duration of haptic apparent motion according to the turning width. The results from the evaluation experiment showed that presenting the future path, including the extent of avoidance maneuvers, improved user understanding and offered a slightly greater sense of security compared to methods that presented only directional information or no feedback at all. Full article

Accidents involving electric wheelchairs are a growing concern, with users frequently encountering obstacles that lead to collisions, tipping, or loss of balance. These incidents underscore the need for advanced safety technologies tailored to electric wheelchair users. This research addresses this need by developing a driving assistance system to prevent accidents and enhance user safety. The system incorporates ultrasonic sensors and a front-facing camera to detect obstacles and provide real-time warnings. The proposed system operates independently of stable server communication and employs embedded hardware for fast object detection and environmental recognition, ensuring immediate guidance in various scenarios. In this research, we utilized the existing yolov8 model as is. But we attempted to improve performance by hardware acceleration of convolutional neural networks, supporting various layers such as convolution, deconvolution, pooling, batch normalization, and others. Thus, the YOLO model was accelerated during inference on the specialized hardware in our experiments. Performance was evaluated in diverse environments to assess its usability. Results demonstrated high accuracy in detecting obstacles and providing timely warnings. Leveraging hardware acceleration for YOLOv8 delivers faster, scalable, and robust object detection, making it a great platform for enhancing driving safety on edge and embedded devices. These findings provide a strong foundation for future advancements in safety assistance systems for electric wheelchairs and other mobility devices. Future research will focus on enhancing system performance and integrating additional features to create a safer environment for electric wheelchair users. Full article

With the aging of the population and the increase in the number of people with disabilities, intelligent wheelchairs are essential in improving travel autonomy and quality of life. In this paper, we propose an autonomous outdoor navigation framework for intelligent wheelchairs based on hierarchical cost maps to address the challenges of wheelchair navigation in complex and dynamic outdoor environments. First, the framework integrates multi-sensors such as RTK high-precision GPS, IMU, and 3D LIDAR; fuses RTK, IMU, and odometer data to realize high-precision positioning; and performs path planning and obstacle avoidance through dynamic hierarchical cost maps. Secondly, the drivable area layer is integrated into the traditional hierarchical cost map, in which the drivable area detection algorithm utilizes local plane fitting and elevation difference analysis to achieve efficient ground point cloud segmentation and real-time updating, which ensures the real-time safety of navigation. The experiments are validated in real outdoor scenes and simulation environments, and the results show that the speed of drivable region detection is about 30 ms, the positioning accuracy of wheelchair outdoor navigation is less than 10 cm, and the distance of active obstacle avoidance is 1 m. This study provides an effective solution for the autonomous navigation of the intelligent wheelchair in a complex outdoor environment, and it has a high robustness and application potential. Full article

Training wheelchair skills are vital for enhancing independence and safety. Traditional training methods require significant time and resources, limiting accessibility. Virtual reality (VR) offers an innovative solution by simulating real-life environments for training, reducing risks and costs. However, the effectiveness of VR in complementing real-life training remains underexplored. This review investigates how VR can complement traditional wheelchair training by assessing the strengths and limitations of existing VR systems. A literature review of 28 studies on VR applications for wheelchair training from 2017 to 2024 was conducted, focusing on studies that detailed VR environments and training programs. It was found that most VR systems were designed for powered wheelchair users with joystick navigation. VR environments included tasks from basic navigation to complex real-world scenarios. While VR showed potential in improving skills and engagement, challenges included the lack of standard methods for evaluating effectiveness and cybersickness. Overall, VR can be a valuable complementary tool for wheelchair training, especially for powered users. Future research should standardise protocols, and address side effects. Full article

The convenience of commuting for individuals using mobility aids (IMAs) depends on various features of urban road infrastructure. The present research selected different pathways based on the relevance and convenience of IMAs in three regions of Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, Qassim, and Hail. A survey questionnaire was developed to evaluate the satisfaction of IMAs with four critical criteria of road infrastructure, including travel distance, slope, availability of footpaths, and number of junctions, using a 5-point Likert scale from very low to very high. A sufficient sample size of this exceptional proportion of the population from different genders, age groups, education levels, employment status, number of disability years, and types of mobility aid participated in the survey. The main reasons for dissatisfaction of more than 50% of the participants were inadequate infrastructure design of entrances to public facilities, pedestrian crossings, and junctions. Social stigma and inadequate assistive technology were also highlighted by around 20% of the participants. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation identified length, slope, and footpaths along the pathway as the most critical features based on the subjective opinion of the participants, of which around 65% have been using artificial limbs or manual wheelchairs. PROMETHEE II aggregated the importance of weights estimated by the participants’ opinion and performance scores of infrastructure features to effectively rank ten pathways in three major cities of the selected regions, using partial and complete outranking. The framework developed in the present study helps concerned organizations to comply with the Vision 2030 goal of a vibrant society in Saudi Arabia by identifying critical pathways and improving infrastructure design to ensure safety, convenience, and satisfaction for IMAs. Full article

Background: Caregivers experience high rates of occupational injuries, especially during wheelchair transfers, which often result in back pain and musculoskeletal disorders due to the physical demands of lifting and repositioning. While mechanical floor lifts, the current standard, reduce back strain, they are time-consuming and require handling techniques that subject caregivers to prolonged and repeated non-neutral trunk postures, increasing the risk of long-term back injuries. Aims: The aim was to assess the time efficiency and ergonomics of the powered personal transfer system (PPTS), a robotic transfer device designed for bed-to/from-wheelchair transfers. Methods: We evaluated transfers with the PPTS and mechanical lift with eight able-bodied participants who assisted with transfers between a bed and a wheelchair. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) were placed on participants to track their motion and assess trunk joint angles during transfers. Results: The PPTS significantly reduced the transfer time (144.31 s vs. 525.82 s, p < 0.001) and required significantly less range of motion for trunk flexion (p < 0.001), lateral bending (p = 0.008), and axial rotation (p = 0.001), all of which have been associated with back injuries. Additionally, the PPTS significantly reduced the time caregivers spent in non-neutral trunk postures, potentially lowering injury risks. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the PPTS improves transfer efficiency and caregiver safety, offering a promising alternative to the current standard of care for wheelchair-to/from-bed transfers. Full article

Self-propelled manual wheelchairs offer several advantages over electric wheelchairs, including promoting physical activity and requiring less maintenance due to their simple design. While theoretical analyses provide valuable insights, laboratory testing remains the most reliable method for evaluating and improving the efficiency of manual wheelchair drives. This article reviews and analyzes the laboratory methods for assessing the efficiency of wheelchair propulsion documented in the scientific literature: (1) A wheelchair dynamometer that replicates real-world driving scenarios, quantifies the wheelchair’s motion characteristics, and evaluates the physical exertion required for propulsion. (2) Simultaneous measurements of body position, motion, and upper limb EMG data to analyze biomechanics. (3) A method for determining the wheelchair’s trajectory based on data from the dynamometer. (4) Measurements of the dynamic center of mass (COM) of the human–wheelchair system to assess stability and efficiency; and (5) data analysis techniques for parameterizing large datasets and determining the COM. The key takeaways include the following: (1) manual wheelchairs offer benefits over electric ones but require customization to suit individual user biomechanics; (2) the necessity of laboratory-based ergometer testing for optimizing propulsion efficiency and safety; (3) the feasibility of replicating real-world driving scenarios in laboratory settings; and (4) the importance of efficient data analysis techniques for interpreting biomechanical studies. Full article

This study focuses on the analysis of lighting in night conditions to explain what lighting in parks should look like and how parks should be lit from the point of view of people’s perceptions. It addresses the impact of the lighting configuration of urban parks on preference, safety, mystery, legibility, and contact with the environment. The feelings of wheelchair users and able-bodied people were measured. The respondents assessed park landscapes presented in visualisations that varied in terms of lighting features and spatial contexts. This research showed, inter alios, that the participants rated evenly lit spaces more highly than those featuring spot lighting. In unevenly lit spaces, the lighting of the surroundings turned out to be crucial import for able-bodied people, while for the disabled respondents, a combination of lighting of the surroundings and of paths was significant. For evenly lit spaces, path lighting is less important for disabled people than for those without disabilities. These insights can help researchers to look at lighting solutions in a more human-centered way and take into account the environment in which they are used. This allows the design of night lighting in parks to be socially sustainable and promotes access to urban green spaces for all citizens. The study emphasises that the provision of sustainable lighting in parks should take into account different social groups, making light a common good. Full article