Pervasive Assistive Technology for the Deaf-Blind Need, Emergency and Assistance Through the Sense of Touch

Abstract

Deaf-blind people have some degree of combined impairments of both the visual and the auditory channels. In the scenario of sensory disabilities, deaf-blindness is among the worst cases. Fortunately, it only affects a small percentage of the population. Being a niche market, in turn, is one of the main reasons why spending in innovation is not considered profitable both by companies and by investors. As a result, there is poor assistive technology specifically designed for deaf-blind people. Indeed, deaf-blindness is a rare, challenging, demanding, and urgent condition. Although dealing with this type of disability can be complex, deaf-blind people have the very same needs as the sighted: independence, access to information, social integration. The objective of this work is to review currently available technology that is suitable for supporting the deaf-blind in their daily life. Specifically, we focus on systems that support basic functional communication in case of need, emergency, and assistance. Also, we discuss the main barriers to innovation in this niche market, and we introduce dbGLOVE, a low-cost solution that combines performance and acceptability.