Abstract
This article proposes Hefestos, an intelligent system applied to ubiquitous accessibility. This model uses ubiquitous computing concepts to manage accessibility resources for people with disabilities. Among the concepts employed, context awareness, user profiles and trails management can be highlighted. The paper proposes an ontology for accessibility and delineates scenarios of its application in everyday life of people with disabilities. Moreover, the implementation of a smart wheelchair prototype and its application in a practical experiment is described. Ten users with a range of disability degrees tried the system and filled out a survey based on the technology acceptance model. This experiment demonstrated the main functionalities and the acceptance of the system. The results showed 96 % of acceptance regarding perceived easy of use and 98 % in perceived usefulness. These results were encouraging and show the potential for implementing Hefestos in real life situations.
















Similar content being viewed by others
References
IBGE: Synopsis of the census of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). ftp://ftp.ibge.gov.br/Censos/Censo_Demografico_2010/Caracteristicas_Gerais_Religiao_Deficiencia/tab1_3. Last visited December (2014)
Rights of the Elderly: Brazilian Federal Law of Rights of the Elderly. http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/2003/l10.741.htm. Last visited December (2014)
IBGE: Synopsis of the census of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). ftp://ftp.ibge.gov.br/Censos/Censo_Demografico_2010/Caracteristicas_Gerais_Religiao_Deficiencia/tab1_1. Last visited December (2014)
Silva, M.: The process of aging in Brazil: challenges and perspectives. Aging texts 8(1), ISSN: 1517–5928 (2005)
UN: United Nations Enable. http://www.un.org/disabilities/index.asp. Last visited December (2014)
Vanderheiden, G.: Ubiquitous accessibility, common technology core, and micro assistive technology. ACM Trans. Access. Comput. (TACCESS) 1(2), 10 (2008). doi:10.1145/14087.1408764
Weiser, M.: The computer for the 21st century. Sci. Am. 265(3), 94–104 (1991). doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0991-94
Satynarayanan, M.: Pervasive computing: vision and challenges. IEEE Pers. Commun. 8(4), 10–17 (2001). doi:10.1109/98.943998
Caceres, R., Friday, A.: Ubicomp systems at 20: Progress, opportunities, and challenges. IEEE Pervasive Comput. 11(1), 14–21 (2012). doi:10.1109/MPRV.2011.85
Barbosa, J., Hahn, R., Barbosa, D., Saccol, A.: A ubiquitous learning model focused on learner integration. Int. J. Learn. Technol. 6(1), 62–83 (2011). doi:10.1504/IJLT.2011.040150
Franco, L., Rosa, J., Barbosa, J., Costa, C., Yamin, A.: MUCS : a model for ubiquitous commerce support. Electron. Commer. Res. Appl. 10(2), 237–246 (2011). doi:10.1016/j.elerap.2010.08.006
Vianna, Henrique D., Barbosa, Jorge L.V.: A model for ubiquitous care of noncommunicable diseases. IEEE J. Biomed. Health Inform. 18(5), 1597–1606 (2014). doi:10.1109/JBHI.2013.22928. ISSN: 2168-2194
Wagner, Andre, Barbosa, J., Barbosa, D.: A model for profile management applied to ubiquitous learning environments. Expert Syst. Appl. 41(4), 2023–2034 (2014). doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2013.08.098
Mehra, P.: Context-aware computing: beyond search and location-based services. IEEE Internet Comput. 16(2), 12–16 (2012). doi:10.1109/MIC.2012.31
Silva, J., Rosa, J., Barbosa, J., Barbosa, D., Palazzo, L.: Content distribution in trail-aware environments. J. Braz. Comput. Soc. 16(3), 163–176 (2010). doi:10.1007/s13173-010-0015-1
Dey, A.K.: Understanding and using Context. Pers. Ubiquitous Comput. 5(1), 4–7 (2001). doi:10.1007/s007790170019
Computação Brasil: Inclusive Technology. Brazilian Computer Society Magazine, ed. 11, p. 12-15, Porto Alegre/Brazil (2009)
Satynarayanan, M.: A catalyst for mobile and ubiquitous computing. IEEE Pervasive Comput. 1(1), 2–5 (2002). doi:10.1109/MPRV.2002.993138
Pupo, D., Melo, A., Ferres, S.: Accessibility: discourse and practice in daily libraries. UNICAMP: Cesar Lattes Central Library. ISBN: 85-85783-16-8 (2006)
Hightower, J., Lamarca, A., Smith, I.: Practical lessons from place lab. IEEE Pervasive Comput. 5(3), 32–39 (2006). doi:10.1109/MPRV.2006.55
Abascal, J., Casas, R., Marco, A., Sevillano, J., Cascado, D.: Towards an intelligent and supportive environment for people with physical or cognitive restrictions. 2nd International Conference on Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments (PETRA09), Corfu/Greece, article n. 10, ISBN: 978-1-60558-409-6, doi:10.1145/1579114.1579124 (2009)
Hervás, R., Bravo, J., Fontecha, J.: Awareness marks: adaptive services through user interactions with augmented objects. J. Pers. Ubiquitous Comput. 15(4), 409–418 (2011). doi:10.1007/s00779-010-0363-z
Vergados, D.: Service personalization for assistive living in a mobile ambient healthcare-networked environment. J. Pers. Ubiquitous Comput. 14(6), 575–590 (2010). doi:10.1007/s00779-009-0278-8
Postolache, O., Madeira, R., Correia, N., Girão, P.: UbiSmartWheel: a ubiquitous system with unobtrusive services embedded on a wheelchair. 2nd International Conference on Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments (PETRA09), Corfu/Greece, article n. 13, ISBN: 978-1-60558-409-6. doi:10.1145/1579114.1579127 (2009)
MIT: Intelligent wheelchair project. http://rvsn.csail.mit.edu/wheelchair/. Last visited December (2014)
Baldauf, M., Dudstar, S.: A survey on context-aware systems. Int. J. Ad Hoc Ubiquitous Comput. 2(4), 263–277 (2007). doi:10.1504/IJAHUC.2007.014070
Padgham, L., Winikoff, M.: Developing Intelligent Agent Systems: A Practical Guide. ISBN: 0-470-86120-7 (2004)
Protégé: Official website of Protégé. http://protege.stanford.edu. Last visited December (2014)
WHO: ICD-10 - International Classification of Diseases. http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/. Last visited December (2014)
WHO: ICF - International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health - Translation to brazilian portuguese. http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en/. Last visited December (2014)
ISO: ISO 9999:2011 - Assistive products for persons with disability - Classification and terminology. http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=50982. Last visited December (2014)
W3C: Official website of Web Content Accessibility Working Group. http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/. Last visited December (2014)
PDT: Official website of Prometheus & PDT @ RMIT. http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/agents/pdt. Last visited December (2014)
Sun Spot: Official website of Sun SPOT World. http://www.sunspotworld.com. Last visited December (2014)
Davis, F.: Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Q. 13(3), 319–340 (1989). doi:10.2307/249008
Yoon, C., Kim, S.: Convenience and TAM in a ubiquitous computing environment: the case of wireless LAN. Electron. Commer. Res. Appl. 6(1), 102–112 (2007). doi:10.1016/j.elerap.2006.06.009
Likert, R.: A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Arch. Psychol. 22(140), 1–55 (1932)
Jason: Official website of Jason. A Java-based interpreter for an extended version of AgentSpeak. http://jason.sourceforge.net/wp/. Last visited December (2014)
Choon, S., Byoung, G.: Taxonomy of ubiquitous computing service for city development. Pers. Ubiquitous Comput. 17(7), 1475–1483 (2013). doi:10.1007/s00779-012-0583-5
Shin, Dong-Hee: Ubiquitous city: urban technologies, urban infrastructure and urban informatics. J. Inf. Sci. 35(5), 515–526 (2009). doi:10.1177/0165551509100832
Marangunic, N., Granic, A.: Technology acceptance model: a literature review from 1986 to 2013. Universal Access in the Information Society, Published online, p. 1–15. doi:10.1007/s10209-014-0348-1 (2014)
Jennings, N.: An agent-based approach for building complex software systems. Commun. ACM 44(4), 35–41 (2001). doi:10.1145/367211.367250
Wooldridge, M., Jennings, N.: Intelligent agents: theory and practice. Knowl. Eng. Rev. 10(2), 115–152 (1995). doi:10.1017/S0269888900008122
Huhns, M., Stephens, L.: Multiagent systems and societies of agents. In: Weiss, G. (ed.) Multiagent Systems: A Modern Approach, pp. 79–120. MIT Press, Camdridge (1999). ISBN: 0-262-23203-0
Oliveira, Rodrigo R., Noguez, Felipe C., Costa, Cristiano A., Barbosa, Jorge L.V., Prado, Mario P.: SWTRACK: an intelligent model for cargo tracking based on off-the-shelf mobile devices. Expert Syst. Appl. 40(6), 2023–2031 (2013). doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2012.10.021
Acknowledgments
This work was financed by Fapergs/Brazil (Foundation for the Supporting of Research in the State of Rio Grande do Sul - http://www.fapergs.rs.gov.br), CNPq / Brazil (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - http://www.cnpq.br) and Capes / Brazil (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel - http://www.capes.gov.br). We had also a close interaction with Freedom Company (http://www.freedom.ind.br), which offered the motorized wheelchair used in this research and also participated in the development of the software. We would like to acknowledge the company for its support and highlight the close collaboration achieved during the work. We also thank all volunteers who collaborated in the evaluation of the system and the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of Unisinos that approved the human aspects of the experiment. We are grateful to Unisinos (http://www.unisinos.br), the Applied Computing Graduate Program (PIPCA) and UCPel (http://www.ucpel.tche.br) for embracing this research. Finally, we would like to express our sincere thanks to the reviewers for their valuable contributions to the final quality of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tavares, J., Barbosa, J., Cardoso, I. et al. Hefestos: an intelligent system applied to ubiquitous accessibility. Univ Access Inf Soc 15, 589–607 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-015-0423-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-015-0423-2