Adapting a Person's Home in 3D Using a Mobile App (MapIt): Participatory Design Framework Investigating the App's...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Assistive Technology

Background:

• Occupational engagement relies on identifying home environmental barriers, often requiring time-consuming occupational therapist (OT) home visits.
• A convenient, consumer-available 3D mapping technology is needed to support OT assessments and explore home adaptations for individuals with disabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document the development and acceptability of a 3D mapping eHealth technology (MapIt).
• To optimize the technology's contribution to occupational therapists' work in home environment assessments.
• To enhance the fitting of home adaptations to individual needs through better home representations.

Main Methods:

• A user-centered, participatory design framework involving OTs, engineers, clinicians, researchers, students, and older adults' relatives.
• Iterative development with ongoing feedback through demonstrations, brainstorming, usability testing, questionnaires, and prototyping.
• System acceptability documented using the Nielsen model and deductive data integration.

Main Results:

• MapIt technology co-designed over 4 years with 24 stakeholders, resulting in 11 iterations.
• A mobile app producing a 3D room model in under 5 minutes, available on smartphones and paired with computer software.
• Favorable stakeholder perception of MapIt's acceptability, usefulness, usability, and utility, though residual usability and accessibility issues require further attention.

Conclusions:

• MapIt enables rapid and simple room scanning to create 3D models from real-world images.
• Facilitates remote and collaborative exploration of home adaptations to enhance occupational engagement.
• Addresses the need for accessible 3D mapping technology in occupational therapy practice.