Human factors
Designing products and systems to fit human bodies and cognitive ability
MIT engineers have designed pliable, 3-D-printed mesh materials whose flexibility and toughness they can tune to emulate and support softer tissues such as muscles and tendons. MIT engineers 3-D-print stretchy mesh, with customized
… READ MOREHow CrossFitter Steph Hammerman Became Nike’s First Adaptive Training Sponsored Athlete. Steph Hammerman was born with cerebral palsy and doctors believed she would never walk, talk, read or write. But the 29-year-old from North
… READ MOREAlthough he has what he describes as “a very mild case of cerebral palsy,” he said, “I don’t look at cerebral palsy as being too much of a limitation, although I certainly did at one time.” Dylan Thomas-Bouchier, centre,
… READ MOREStreets need to be designed to consider people with disabilities, says Emerging Design Medal winner Ross Atkin. Dezeen spoke to him about four of his best tech-led works for people whose environments are “letting them
… READ MOREThroughout her young life, Sylvia Colt-Lacayo has been told her disability didn’t need to hold her back. She graduated near the top of her high school class. She was co-captain of the mock trial team. In April, she learned she had
… READ MORETop student from China lends programming expertise to develop sensors and 3D avatar. Researchers at the University of Alberta are developing a wearable technology they say will help with athletic assessment and rehabilitation. Scott
… READ MOREKristine Vodon successfully blends academic and athletic in her wakeskate shoe concept. Kristine Vodon graduated with her Master’s of Environmental Design from the University of Calgary School of Architecture, Planning and
… READ MORECaregivers in Canada need more support. It’s time to strengthen support for the 28% of people who provide care for an ageing family member, friend or neighbour in Canada, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association
… READ MOREThe world is designed against the elderly, writes Don Norman, 83-year-old author of the industry bible Design of Everyday Things and a former Apple VP. Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman. Kristian Guevara By Don Norman, Fast
… READ MOREThe world’s airlines have adopted a resolution that puts improving travel for disabled passengers at the top of their to-do list. At the International Air Transport Association annual meeting in June, the industry trade group
… READ MOREBob Brown, a disability rights advocate who is quadriplegic, says the rules reduce the distance he can travel by air without putting his health at risk by up to 2,000 kilometres. Airlines, industry groups, passenger advocates taking
… READ MOREApple has announced that it will allow any US healthcare organization with a compatible electronic health record (EHR) to register with its mobile Health Records feature, according to a tweet from Ricky Bloomfield, MD, Apple’s
… READ MOREThe system presses on towards the next level of usability and interoperability for professionals. THL studies population health and welfare, effectiveness of health and welfare policies and services, environmental health as well as
… READ MOREAlthough the meat of Apple’s accessibility news from WWDC has been covered, there still are other items announced that have relevancy to accessibility as well. Here, then, are some thoughts on Apple’s less-headlining
… READ MOREThe Cerebral Palsy Foundation launched a new initiative on the Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) called Accessibility is Beautiful, generously supported by CHUBB. The YouTube miniseries, developed by the Cerebral Palsy
… READ MOREBionic Power makes wearable technology for charging batteries. Today, we are focused on developing our PowerWalk® Kinetic Energy Harvester for military use and began multi-unit field trials with the US Army, US Marine Corps and
… READ MOREWhen the American Medical Association — one of the nation’s most powerful health care groups — met in Chicago this June, its medical student caucus seized an opportunity for change. Doctors for the 99 Percent march from Zuccotti
… READ MOREBy Dr. Michael Nirenberg, America’s Podiatrist February 24, 2011 A middle-aged woman arrived at my office last week complaining of heel pain and carrying a bag of custom-made foot orthotics (orthotics are custom made arch
… READ MOREOn June 11, Atlanta became the latest major U.S. city to be sued for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act due to lack of access to public sidewalks. The lawsuit follows recent settlements over similar issues in Los
… READ MOREA lawsuit is seeking to force the nation’s airlines to make big changes in order to better accommodate travelers with disabilities. This is what it’s like to travel with a disability in the United States. American Airlines 737
… READ MOREAcross Canada, professionals from various disciplines work in the area of plagiocephaly. Most often, nurses, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists manage and run the clinics. The clinic in Calgary was the only clinic
… READ MOREInside a digital revolution that took a bad turn. The U.S. government claimed that turning American medical charts into electronic records would make health care better, safer, and cheaper. Ten years and $36 billion later, the system
… READ MOREFor some, the word “technology” might evoke cold imagery of steely robots and complex computer algorithms. But a talk on “empathetic technology” at this year’s Wired Health conference did a lot to change
… READ MORENearly 300 complaints made to transportation service each year, related to no shows, late pick ups. A passenger waits to begin her trip on a Calgary Transit Access bus on March 6, 2019. The agency says about 30 per cent of the nearly
… READ MORE“Our results are encouraging. Across 10 different areas of life, adolescents with cerebral palsy only ranked their quality of friend and peer relationships as on average lower than adolescents in the general population,
… READ MORESerena Zitnay, 3, uses her walker to get around as her older sister Emma, 5, looks on at the family home in Orange. Christian Abraham, Hearst Connecticut Media By Pam McLoughlin, New Haven Register November 21, 2018 Three-year-old
… READ MOREResearchers have long seen the potential of virtual reality in rehabilitating patients with movement disorders. But do treatments using VR have advantages over traditional physical therapy? While traditional physical therapy can be
… READ MORETime Magazine says that a first-of-its-kind water park designed to be fully accessible to people with special needs is among the top 100 places in the world for 2018. Morgan’s Inspiration Island, a fully-accessible splash park
… READ MOREThe designers of an electric wheelchair share scheme and two exoskeletons are among the five finalists of the Mobility Unlimited Challenge who will be given $500,000 each to develop their prototypes. An electric wheelchair share
… READ MORESensor can show athletes, trainers where foot impacts are strongest to detect and correct inefficiencies in movement and reduce injuries, also can help diabetics avoid foot blisters. Elite female runners Becky Wade, left, Caroline
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