Freedom to Choose: Understanding Input Modality Preferences of People with Upper-body Motor Impairments for Activities of Daily Living

TL;DR

This study explores the input modality preferences of individuals with upper-body motor impairments to inform the design of assistive technologies that enhance independence in daily activities.

Contribution

It provides insights from interviews on user preferences and challenges, guiding multimodal input design for assistive devices to improve independence.

Findings

Users prefer multimodal input options for ADLs.

Current assistive tech often relies on single modalities like voice.

Design implications support user independence and collaboration.

Abstract

Many people with upper-body motor impairments encounter challenges while performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), such as toileting, grooming, and managing finances, which have impacts on their Quality of Life (QOL). Although existing assistive technologies enable people with upper-body motor impairments to use different input modalities to interact with computing devices independently (e.g., using voice to interact with a computer), many people still require Personal Care Assistants (PCAs) to perform ADLs. Multimodal input has the potential to enable users to perform ADLs without human assistance. We conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with people who have upper-body motor impairments to capture their existing practices and challenges of performing ADLs, identify opportunities to expand the input possibilities for assistive devices, and understand user preferences for multimodal interaction during everyday tasks. Finally, we discuss implications for the design and use of multimodal input solutions to support user independence and collaborative experiences when performing daily living tasks.