Towards a multi-perspective based ontology to develop smart wearables for paediatric habilitation

Abstract

A user-centred approach is applied during the design process of rehabilitation devices to eventually make therapy more efficient and effective. Similarly, this applies to the development of Smart WEarables for Paediatric Habilitation (SWEPH), which are utilised by children with physical limitations. Additive Manufacturing (AM) provides design engineers with a multitude of possibilities, especially the ability to attain more personalised devices which meet the individualistic needs of diverse users. Nevertheless, the more user-centric a device is, the more complex the design and AM requirements become, making it more difficult for the designers to satisfy the different needs of the users. In this study, the user groups considered are the children with physical limitations, the occupational therapists and the parents of the children. These users bring various requirements that the designers must abide by, to achieve a positive User eXperience (UX). Given the challenge to design SWEPH which provides a high-quality UX, this paper proposes a multi-perspective-based ontology that takes into consideration the following three aspects: a) requirements of multiple users and other significant stakeholders b) UX measures of the three different users of SWEPH and c) Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) considerations. Ultimately, this ontology aims to facilitate the design of SWEPH and assist design engineers in developing optimal devices with a higher acceptance rate and user adherence, whilst taking advantage of the benefits AM offers. Future work proposed is aimed to confirm the uncertain links established in this ontology and eventually verify and validate it holistically to guarantee its practicality and applicability.