Implementation and Innovation in the Area of Independent Mobility Through Digital Technologies: Introduction to the Special Thematic Session

Abstract

This STS explores contributions to the independent mobility of persons with disabilities. Mobility is often cited as a requirement of people with a disability seeking to increase opportunities for full access to education, employment and daily living. Recent innovations in assistive and accessible technologies suggest new ways in which navigation, orientation, and wayfinding can be accessible for people with a wide variety of needs, including those with cognitive, sensory, and physical impairments and the elderly. The papers share insight and examples of the impact of emerging technologies, including location-based technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and augmented mixed and virtual reality solutions. These offer opportunities for increasingly personalised, adaptive, and natural interfaces for access methods, including speech, audio, gestural and haptic approaches. Such innovation is often based upon co-design requires appropriate service and training to be implemented across age, needs, and context. The STS discusses recent achievements in independent mobility through digital technologies, focusing on the technologies, forms of access, and associated services to support implementation, replication, and localisation.