Discussion of Intelligent Electric Wheelchairs for Caregivers and Care Recipients

TL;DR

This paper presents the development and evaluation of an intelligent electric wheelchair designed to alleviate caregiver burden by incorporating cooperative operation and automatic driving features, based on workshops with caregivers and older adults.

Contribution

It introduces a new intelligent wheelchair with cooperative and automatic functions, developed through caregiver workshops and tested in a real nursing home setting.

Findings

Identified caregiver and older adult needs through workshops.

Demonstrated cooperative operation of multiple wheelchairs.

Gathered user feedback on automatic driving features.

Abstract

In order to reduce the burden on caregivers, we developed an intelligent electric wheelchair. We held workshops with caregivers, asked then regarding the problems in caregiving, and developed problem-solving methods. In the workshop, caregivers' physical fitness and psychology of the older adults were found to be problems and a solution was proposed. We implemented a cooperative operation function for multiple electric wheelchairs based on the workshop and demonstrated it at a nursing home. By listening to older adults, we obtained feedback on the automatic driving electric wheelchair. From the results of this study, we discovered the issues and solutions to be applied to the intelligent electric wheelchair.