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Multidisciplinary collaboration on exoskeleton development adopting user-centered design: a systematic integrative
Clio Yuen Man Cheng1, Carolyn Chi Ying Lee2, Coco Ke Chen3
1Department of Social Work and Social Administration; Sau Po Centre on Ageing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Disability and Rehabilitation. Assistive Technology
|October 24, 2022
Summary
Exoskeleton development for aging populations requires better multidisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder engagement. A new tool is proposed to assess this collaboration in user-centered design (UCD) for assistive technologies.
Area of Science:
- Rehabilitation Engineering
- Assistive Technology Development
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Global population aging increases the need for assistive technologies like exoskeletons to support independent living and rehabilitation.
- Exoskeleton development for older adults and people with disabilities necessitates effective collaboration among diverse experts and end-users.
- User-centered design (UCD) is crucial for developing effective and acceptable assistive technologies.
Approach:
- Systematic integrative review of 34 studies on exoskeleton development using UCD in healthcare/community settings (2000-2022).
- Databases searched: PubMed, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore.
- Analysis focused on development team composition, stakeholder engagement, and collaboration outcomes.
Key Points:
- A shift from within-discipline to cross-discipline collaboration is needed in exoskeleton development.
- Stakeholder engagement levels in exoskeleton development projects remain consistently low.
- Standardized methods for quantifying knowledge production in multidisciplinary exoskeleton development are currently lacking.
Conclusions:
- Exoskeleton development is increasing, requiring diverse expertise and stakeholder involvement for user acceptance.
- A Multidisciplinary Collaboration Appraisal Tool (MCAT) using the UCD approach is proposed to evaluate collaboration effectiveness.
- Further research is needed to validate the effectiveness of multidisciplinary collaboration in UCD-based exoskeleton development.
