Study level

  • PhD
  • Master of Philosophy

Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

School of Computer Science

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Supervisors

Professor Glenda Caldwell
Position
Professor in Design
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Engineering
Associate Professor Jared Donovan
Position
Associate Professor
Division / Faculty
Faculty of CI, Education & Social Justice

Overview

Vision-based technologies offer new possibilities to assist individuals with cognitive disabilities to live independently. Ambient assistive technologies, such as smart mirrors and social robots, enable new ways to interact at home with AI technologies that can see.

How can we ensure the social acceptance and support the adoption of ambient assistive technologies?

Technologies that support independent living are about much more than fulfilling a particular task. They alter how people perceive themselves and how they engage with others. Students in this project will take a value-sensitive lens to evaluate the alignment of prototype ambient technologies with the values of all actors who can facilitate or hinder their adoption.

Through a value-sensitive design lens, students in this project will evaluate how ambient interactions and designs of prototypes developed in the project align with the values of all actors who can facilitate or hinder their adoption. These participants include actors across the lifecycle, development and use of assistive technology products (e.g. people with cognitive disabilities as well as technology businesses, occupational therapists, specialist disability accommodation providers, plan managers, support workers, family members), as well as actors across the policy landscape around assistive technology (e.g. insurance representatives, government policy makers, disability service organisations).

Research activities

  • Literature review.
  • Participatory design research.
  • Prototype development and evaluation.

Outcomes

  • Student thesis.
  • Co-authored publications.

Skills and experience

Students applying for this topic should have:

  • experience and/or interest in working with people with disabilities
  • experience with participatory design, prototyping and/or evaluation approaches.

A background in human-computer interaction (or similar) is preferred.

Students with relevant lived experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

Scholarships

You may be eligible to apply for a research scholarship.

Explore our research scholarships

Keywords

Contact

For more information contact Laurianne Sitbon via email l.sitbon@qut.edu.au or phone +61 7 3138 8079, or contact the supervisors.