MICA - Mobile Internet Connected Assistant
Sven Rönnbäck, Juoni Piekkari, Kalevi Hyyppä, Liisa Haakapää · 2005
Abstract — It is important that assistive devices adapt to the users personal needs and wishes. Technical and form designers need specialized knowledge about the user, that is why we need to build up knowledge and cooperation with the user. This means that we make tests in real environments such as homes and nursing homes. Users are diverse which means that they need diverse technical applications. Many users need wheelchairs in several life situations. In the MICA (Mobile Internet Connected Assistant) project we study an autonomous wheelchair that has the capability to navigate in complex environments. The vehicle is connected to the Internet using wireless technology. That makes it possible to tele-operate the wheelchair and support a user over a physical distance. Since the system gives an arbitrary user the ability to remote operate the vehicle it is possible for an assistant or relative to control, help or assist in difficult situations. The wheelchair has an Internet browser support where anyone can see live video taken from the camera onboard the vehicle. The technical aspect of the research focuses on autonomous navigation and how to develop technique to assist disabled users in their home environment. Design students from the University of Lapland suggested different devices to use the automatic technology of MICA. The aim was to correspond to different needs of diverse people. A second challenge for the devices are to fit the users, personalize them so that devices respect the individual and give life support and keeps the identity of the users. This challenge began to clear with knowledge about the single user.