AIDE Project
Research type
Research Study
Full title
AIDE: Adaptive multimodal interfaces to assist disabled people in daily activities
IRAS ID
193770
Contact name
Suzanne Martin
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Around 80 million people in the EU, a sixth of its population, have a disability. They are often not able to participate in society because of physical, psychological and social barriers. According to Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities signed by the European Commission in 2010, ‘accessibility’ is a basic right for all persons with disabilities. However, there is inadequate technology available to provide people with very limited mobility this basic human right. The ultimate goal of the AIDE project is to develop an assistive technology that could enable people with complex neurological conditions such as acquired brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury to access communications applications, entertainment features and environmental control. It aims to use highly sophisticated technology that can adapt and be customised to the abilities of the person living with a disability to enhance social inclusion, communication and participation. The first phase of this project is to engage with all the stakeholders in order to represent the views, expectations and desires for the proposed system. This means we will run focus groups with people living with a neurological condition, their caregivers, therapists, and NGO’s. Those individuals who consent to participate will be invited to join a focus group with approximately 4 other people. The aim would be to include approximately 20 people living with a neurological condition in 4 separate focus groups and approximately 20 community based service providers working with neurological clients (4 focus groups). The findings will then inform phase two of the project to develop and define a useful system where the potential users needs could be fulfilled. The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 645322 and it will run until February 2018.
REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NE/0384
Date of REC Opinion
12 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion