EFFENDI - EFficient and Fast text ENtry for persons with motor Disabilities of neuromuscular orIgin

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Philipp Beckerle, since 5/2016
• Subject Area: Human Factors, Ergonomics, Human-Machine Systems
• Term: from 2011 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 209407001

• Final Report Year: 2023

Final Report Abstract

The project focused on designing an alternative mouse and keyboard interface for individuals with limited upper limb mobility, specifically those with neuromuscular diseases. The goal was to address the challenges faced by this population in accessing and using computers. Thus, an alternative mouse and keyboard interface were implemented that is highly adjustable in both software and hardware to account for the various symptoms that patients experience and make ideal use of their capabilities. The alternative mouse interface utilizes head tracking through a motion sensor mounted on the spectacles to control the cursor position on the screen. The mouse clicks are activated by contracting the jaw muscles, and vibration motors provide haptic feedback. For the alternative keyboard, a tenkey layout is combined with a database and automatic word completion as well as force sensors to minimize the finger movements and forces required for text entry. The keyboard can be personalized, and the keys can be adjusted using a magnetic pad. Several studies with participants without motor restrictions and individuals from the target population were conducted to derive and evaluate the final design in a human-centered fashion. The performance of the alternative mouse and keyboard interface was compared to the regular mouse and keyboard. The participants conducted user-specific calibration, click tests, typing tests, and realworld tasks. The alternative input devices were perceived to have a higher workload but were rated relatively good in terms of performance. The participants found the interface intuitive for daily life tasks and provided suggestions for improvement, such as enhancing mouse click accuracy. Overall, the results of the project highlight the potential of the alternative mouse and keyboard interface for people with limited upper limb mobility. Specific challenges of the target group are addressed, particularly the wide variation of symptoms of the patients is tackled by a highly adaptive the system. Experimental studies provided insights into the needs of the target group, which were specifically used to develop the interface. This included the implementation of mouse acceleration and the use of non-contact sensors to trigger the mouse clicks by tensing the jaw muscles. The results of the user studies substantiate the general functionality of the interface across different individual characteristics, and thus its potential to further improve the inclusivity and accessibility of computer use for people with neuromuscular diseases.

Publications

• DualScribe: A Keyboard Replacement for Those with Friedreich’s Ataxia and Related Diseases. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (2012), 431-438. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
  Felzer, Torsten; MacKenzie, I. Scott & Rinderknecht, Stephan
  
• OnScreenDualScribe: A Computer Operation Tool for Users with a Neuromuscular Disease. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (2013), 474-483. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
  Felzer, Torsten; MacKenzie, I. Scott & Rinderknecht, Stephan
  
• Efficient computer operation for users with a neuromuscular disease with OnScreenDualScribe. Journal of Interaction Science, 2(1).
  Felzer, Torsten; MacKenzie, Ian Scott & Rinderknecht, Stephan
  
• Multi-Signal Virtual Keyboard Proceedings of the 2014 Mulitmedia, Interaction, Design and Innovation International Conference on Multimedia, Interaction, Design and Innovation (2014, 6, 24), 1-7. ACM.
  Saif, Muhammad Bilal; Neubert, Michael; Spengler, Sebastian; Beckerle, Philipp; Felzer, Torsten & Rinderknecht, Stephan
  
• Experiences of Someone with a Neuromuscular Disease in Operating a PC (and Ways to Successfully Overcome Challenges). ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, 6(2), 1-18.
  Felzer, Torsten & Rinderknecht, Stephan
  
• OnScreenDualScribe with Point-and-Click Interface. Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (2016, 10, 23), 257-262. ACM.
  Krishnaswamy, Kavita; Ordóñez, Patricia; Beckerle, Phillip; Rinderknecht, Stephan & Felzer, Torsten
  
• Design and Testing of Sensors for Text Entry and Mouse Control for Individuals with Neuromuscular Diseases. Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (2018, 10, 8). ACM.
  Abrams, Anna M. H.; Weber, Carl Fridolin & Beckerle, Philipp
  
• A Human–Computer Interface Replacing Mouse and Keyboard for Individuals with Limited Upper Limb Mobility. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 4(4), 84.
  Gür, Diyar; Schäfer, Niklas; Kupnik, Mario & Beckerle, Philipp
  
• Design and Implementation of a Personalizable Alternative Mouse and Keyboard Interface for Individuals with Limited Upper Limb Mobility. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 6(12), 104.
  Andreas, Daniel; Six, Hannah; Bliek, Adna & Beckerle, Philipp
  
• Personalizable Alternative Mouse and Keyboard Interface for People with Motor Disabilities of Neuromuscular Origin. Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (2022, 10, 22), 1-4. ACM.
  Andreas, Daniel; Six, Hannah; Bliek, Adna & Beckerle, Philipp