Doing a job well and earning wages is a source of empowerment and self-esteem, especially for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities. This group of people has the lowest employment rate, and often require assistance to complete jobs with complex directions or where tasks can vary depending on what is happening in the work environment.
TRI Senior Scientist Dr. Alex Mihailidis and colleagues developed an automated system to help guide workers through a multi-step assembly task and reduce the burden on human job coaches. The system—called nonlinear contextually aware prompting system (N-CAPS)—uses a camera and advanced analysis techniques to determine the progress of the worker in the assembly task. When workers pause, or perform a step incorrectly or out of order, the system prompts them and provides instructions via a touchscreen tablet that displays an animated job coach. "The heart of the N-CAPS solution is the decision-making module that identifies the most appropriate course of action: whether a prompt is required, and the type of prompt that should be given," explains Dr. Mihailidis.
The N-CAPS system was examined in a pilot study and the researchers found that it did increase the abilities of the participants to perform tasks without the need for a human job coach. However, it also exposed weaknesses in the wording of prompts, which the researchers will address before moving on to more extensive studies of the N-CAPS system. "This type of technology could help workers with cognitive disabilities lead an active and independent life," concludes Dr. Mihailidis.
This work was supported by the University of Colorado Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for the Advancement of Cognitive Technologies, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the Toronto Rehab Foundation. A Mihailidis holds the Barbara G. Stymiest Chair in Rehabilitation Technology Research.
A nonlinear contextually aware prompting system (N-CAPS) to assist workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities to perform factory assembly tasks: system overview and pilot testing. Mihailidis A, Melonis M, Keyfitz R, Lanning M, Van Vuuren S, Bodine C. Disability and Rehabilitation Assistive Technology. 2015 Jul 1. [Pubmed abstract]