"A Tool for Freedom": Co-Designing Mobility Aid Improvements Using Personal Fabrication and Physical Interface Modules with Primarily Young Adults

Research Background and Issues

• Issues or Challenges:

  • Mobility aids such as canes, walkers, and wheelchairs are essential assistive technologies for individuals with mobility limitations. However, many users are dissatisfied with these tools, leading to low usage rates, with abandonment rates for some mobility aids reaching as high as 30%-60%. Reasons include neglecting user feedback, poor performance, lack of adaptability, and changing user needs.
  • Most existing research focuses on complex mobility devices like wheelchairs, while studies on improving more basic mobility aids (e.g., canes, walkers, and walking sticks) are relatively scarce. Current designs predominantly emphasize performance optimization while overlooking the need for aesthetic appeal, functional diversity, and personalization.
  • Existing studies primarily target older adults, despite 30% of mobility impairments occurring in individuals under the age of 50.

• Significance:

  • Younger users have higher demands for personalization, aesthetics, and multifunctionality in mobility aids. Ignoring the needs of this demographic may result in inefficient use and higher abandonment rates of assistive tools.
  • Addressing user demands for adaptability to diverse environments and personal style can improve the usage rates of mobility aids while enhancing user autonomy and well-being.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • This study explores how to integrate user feedback and modern manufacturing techniques (e.g., 3D printing, laser cutting) to design and improve mobility aids, with a focus on the unique needs of younger users.

Solution

• Core Solution:

  • Develop modular, configurable, multifunctional, and aesthetically pleasing mobility aids using personalized manufacturing and physical interface modules through a co-design approach.
  • Provide customizable components for users, such as hot-swappable physical interface modules, laser-cut decorative shells, 3D-printed adjustable handles, and modular canes with configurable height.

• Innovation:

  • Centered on the needs of younger users, the study proposes design standards emphasizing aesthetics, personalization, multifunctionality, and reconfigurability.
  • Introduces personal manufacturing technologies (e.g., 3D printing and laser cutting) to offer DIY customizable assistive technology solutions.
  • Highlights the integration of user community feedback into the design process, particularly in addressing social stigmatization and functional limitations of assistive devices.

• Implementation Steps:

  1. Research and Needs Analysis: Conduct interviews with 17 mobility aid users (primarily younger individuals) to identify key pain points and needs.
  2. Prototype Design and Validation: Create multiple low-fidelity prototypes based on user feedback, including modular canes, hot-swappable physical interface modules, 3D-printed flexible foam handles, and wooden decorative shells.
  3. Validation and Collaboration: Apply co-design methods by inviting users to test prototypes, provide direct feedback, and suggest improvements.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Outcomes:

  • Modular Cane: Users can freely adjust handle shapes (e.g., selecting sizes based on individual hand shapes) and cane height, and adapt to various terrains by replacing different tips.
  • Physical Interface Modules: Designed multiple accessories (e.g., OLED display screens, vibration motors, buttons, and GPS modules) to assist users in interacting with smart devices.
  • 3D-Printed Flexible Foam Handle: Enhanced ergonomic comfort of cane handles using 3D-printed foam with variable hardness.
  • Laser-Cut Decorative Shells: Developed wooden decorative covers to address the social stigma associated with the unattractive appearance of traditional mobility aids.

• Advantages:

  • User-Oriented Design: Addresses the common issue of neglecting user needs and personalization in current mobility aids.
  • Adaptability to Different Scenarios: Reconfigurable designs meet user demands for diverse environments (e.g., outdoor and indoor use).
  • Community Empowerment: Low-cost manufacturing tools such as 3D printing and laser cutting enable users to modify their devices, supporting self-sufficiency within the disabled community.

• Experimental and Evaluation Results:

  • In the second phase of experiments, most participants found the prototypes superior to their current mobility aids after testing.
  • Users responded most positively to improvements in aesthetics, functional configurability, and lightweight design, emphasizing the importance of interactive testing for optimizing designs.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations:
    • The study focuses on younger users; future research could expand to compare needs across different age groups.
    • Long-term testing of prototype tools in real-world environments for durability, performance, and user experience has not yet been conducted.
  • Future Directions:
    • Explore ways to extend research findings to a broader range of mobility aid users.
    • Develop designs for mobility aids that cater to diverse cultural backgrounds.
    • Enhance technical compatibility between modular designs and user customization needs.