Introduction

Abstract

Our senses are the dominant channel for perceiving the world around us. With impairments and lack thereof, people find themselves at the edge of sensorial capability. Some excel and use their impairment as a gift. Prominent examples are Evelyn Glennie, a hearing-impaired percussionist, and Ben Underwood, whose eyes were removed at when he was 5 years, taught himself echolocation. Some seek assistive or enhancing devices which enable a “disabled” user to carry out a task or even turn the user into a “superhuman” with capabilities well beyond the ordinary. The overarching topic of this volume is centered on the design and development of assistive technology, user interfaces and interactions that seamlessly integrate with a user’s mind, body and behavior in this very way–providing enhanced physical, sensorial and cognitive capabilities. We call this “Assistive Augmentation”.