Introduction
Assistive technologies have potential to significantly improve the lives of people with disabilities by enabling independence and facilitating social connections, however research in assistive technologies creates several challenges. Some of these challenges include the inherent heterogeneity of the user population, privacy concerns in data gathering and analysis, and ethical concerns in the use of the technologies. Often, designing technology for individuals with disabilities is done without full attention to the myriad needs it must satisfy. One method to remedy the situation is to improve collaboration between technology designers, users, and researchers in disability health, such that systems are designed with privacy, ethical, social, and clinical concerns in mind.
This workshop aimed to address the interdisciplinary gap that exists in assistive technology research, by bringing together researchers from computer science, engineering, social science, humanities, medicine, rehabilitative and clinical fields to address specific research topics and research themes of mutual interest and paramount importance to effective research in assistive technologies. The research topics spanned evaluation, sensing, networking, and mobility, while the research themes spanned customization, privacy, ethics, and integrated end-user involvement. The workshop provided networking opportunities for researchers interested in assistive technologies. The primary outcomes included the identification of concrete directions for future interdisciplinary collaborations (both research and funding opportunities, including PWIAS Major Thematic Grants), best practices guidelines for successful assistive technology design and use, and potential publication of work presented at the workshop in a special issue journal in assistive technology.
"Removing Barriers and Enabling Individuals: Ethics, Design, and Use of Assistive Technologies" was an Exploratory Workshop co-funded by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and the Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems at the University of British Columbia awarded to Principal Investigator Meeko Oishi, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Co-Investigator Ian Mitchell, Computer Science.