Hector A Caltenco

Lund University | LU · Department of Design Sciences

Exposure to airborne particles causes detrimental health effects, hence their assessment in indoor environments, where people spend most of the time, is important. The influence of energy renovation and occupants' activities on airborne particle concentrations was assessed in seven occupied Swedish residences. Ultrafine particle (UFP, <100 nm) numb...

Background: Technical applications can promote home-based exercise and physical activity of community-dwelling stroke survivors. Caregivers are often able and willing to assist with home-based exercise and physical activity but lack the knowledge and resources to do so. ActivABLES was established to promote home-based exercise and physical activit...

Background: Novel technical solutions are called for to promote home-based exercise among community-dwelling stroke survivors supported by their caregivers. Lack of resources and knowledge about how to accomplish it, has been demonstrated. The objective of this study is to describe in detail the development of ActivABLES, a technical intervention...

BACKGROUND Technical applications can promote home-based exercise and physical activity of community-dwelling stroke survivors to improve function and decrease physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. Informal caregivers are often able and willing to assist with home-based exercise and physical activity but may lack knowledge and practical resou...

BACKGROUND Novel technical solutions are called for to promote home-based exercise and facilitate engagement in physical activity among community-dwelling stroke survivors supported by their caregivers in the home environment. Lack of knowledge and resources on what to do and how to accomplish this has been demonstrated. OBJECTIVE To describe in d...

Energy efficiency measures in residential buildings typically include changes in ventilation and heating systems, and increased thermal insulation of the building envelope. The expected energy efficiency is not always reached, despite large knowledge and professional implementation of each separate measure. There is a lack in understanding of how t...

This paper presents work done within the EU project STARR. Within the framework of the project technologies to empower and support stroke survivors are developed. We report on the iterative development of an outdoor activity game for stroke survivors, and discuss design choices, experiences from the initial testing and outline potential future deve...

Indoor environments have a large impact on health and well-being, so it is important to understand what makes them healthy and sustainable. There is substantial knowledge on individual factors and their effects, though understanding how factors interact and what role occupants play in these interactions (both causative and receptive) is lacking. We...

This paper presents the process and results of a set of studies within the ABBI EU project, with the general aim to co-design wearable technology (an audio bracelet) together with visually impaired children, starting at a young age. The authors discuss user preferences related to sounds and tactile materials and present the results of a focus group...

Stroke is a significant cause of long-term disability, impairing over 10 million peoples motor function, primarily on one side of the body every year. Whilst effective rehabilitation exercises can help recover and maintain some affected motor function, stroke survivors often do not carry out enough of these. Instead relying on their`goodtheir`good'...

The importance of involving the persons intended to use a design, already in the design process leading up to the final product or service, is increasingly acknowledged. This chapter is intended to provide both inspiration and practical suggestions for anyone interested in designing for and with persons with visual impairments. The text focuses on...

In the ActivAbles and STARR projects we are developing interactive training tools for stroke survivors. As our initial user studies pointed to balance being a key ability, one of the developed tools is an interactive balance mat. While balance equipment is common, interactive balancing equipment for persons with poor balance is less common. Equipme...

Young children with visual impairments tend to engage less with their surroundings, limiting the benefits from activities at school. We investigated novel ways of using sound from a bracelet, such as speech or familiar noises, to tell children about nearby people, places and activities, to encourage them to engage more during play and help them mov...

This paper presents four different tangible interactive prototypes designed to support the continuation of balance rehabilitation at home. The interactive prototypes are designed to provide a more enjoyable and experience when performing balance rehabilitation exercises. Early results from preliminary tests with stroke survivors and rehabilitation...

In this paper we outline the initial stages of a human centered design process aimed at the design of novel technology (tangible interactive objects) for stroke survivors. We found it useful to support standard methods, such as interviews and focus groups, with a video prototype in order to make the concept of tangible interaction, which was novel...

This paper reports results from two workshops organized with children with visual impairments ranging from blindness to low vision. The aim of the workshops was to suggest gestures for the interaction with a small wearable audio-bracelet. Results show a preference for mechanical buttons and touch-based gestures on the device (mainly tapping and sli...

This paper presents the process and results of a set of studies within the ABBI EU project, with the general aim to co-design wearable technology (an audio bracelet) together with visually impaired children, starting at a young age. The authors discuss user preferences related to sounds and tactile materials and present the results of a focus group...

Purpose: Individuals with tetraplegia depend on alternative interfaces in order to control computers and other electronic equipment. Current interfaces are often limited in the number of available control commands, and may compromise the social identity of an individual due to their undesirable appearance. The purpose of this study was to implement...

This study is done within the framework of a project aimed at developing a wearable device (a bracelet) intended to support sensory motor rehabilitation of children with visual impairments. We present an exploratory study of aesthetic/hedonistic preferences for sounds and touch experiences among visually impaired children. The work is done in a par...

The ABBI (Audio Bracelet for Blind Interaction) device is designed for visually impaired and blind children to wear on the wrist and produce sound based on the movement of the arm through space. The primary function is to inform a child (or adult) about his/her own movements to aid spatial cognition rehabilitation. However , the device could also b...

ABBI, the audio bracelet for blind interaction, aims to rehabilitate spatial cognition, mobility and social interaction in children and adults with visual deficits through natural audio-motor and tactile-motor interactions. ABBI is a new tool that provides spatial information on where and how the body is moving, providing significant information re...

NordiCHI'14 conference attendees got hands-on experience with a number of great new interactive systems. Among the accepted poster, video, and demo submissions, we selected the following four prototypes to illustrate the high-quality design research displayed during the conference, which was held in Helsinki, Finland, October 26--30, 2014. Mikael W...

The pedagogical use of multisensory environments (MSE/Snoezelen) addresses the fundamentals of engagement in the world through rich, wondrous and sensuous experiences. Despite the diversity of artefacts and materials used in these practices, interactive designs are few, screen-centric or limited to simplistic behaviour. Twenty-four children with pr...

Universal Design, Design for All and Inclusive Design are all aimed at dismantling physical and social barriers to inclusion in all areas of life. Engagement in universal design is on the increase worldwide as practitioners and researchers explore creative and desirable solutions to shape the future of universal design products and practices. This...

Intraoral target (typing) and on-screen target (pointing/tracking) selection tasks were performed by 10 participants during 3 consecutive day sessions. Tasks were performed using 2 different intraoral sensor layouts. Reduction of undesired sensor activations while speaking as well as the influence of intraoral temperature variation on the signals o...

This paper presents the preliminary evaluation of different powered-wheelchair control modes for individuals with severe motor impediments. To this end, a C400 Permobil wheelchair has been updated with a control command communication interface and equipped with a scanning laser sensor to carry out the automation algorithms that are part of the robo...

This paper is based on outcomes from SID (http://sid.desiign.org), a three-year project where twenty-four children with profound intellectual disabilities visited three MSE centres. SID's aim was to develop and demonstrate the potentials of interactive design in and for MSE practices together with the children and the pedagogical staff. In the proj...

Purpose: To evaluate typing and pointing performance and improvement over time of four able-bodied participants using an intra-oral tongue-computer interface for computer control. Background: A physically disabled individual may lack the ability to efficiently control standard computer input devices. There have been several efforts to produce an...

The pedagogical practices around Multi-Sensory Environments (MSE) have been growing for more than thirty years. MSEs consist of rooms that are designed to evoke interest and offer opportunities to explore, discover and experience in ones own pace. The target groups are, among others, children and adults with profound developmental disabilities, who...

Given the evidence that the primary motor cortex (MI) consists of subpopulations of upper motor neurons tuned to different directional parameters of a motor movement, this study hypothesized that novel motor skill training involving either a bidirectional or more complex multidirectional tongue-typing movement should produce distinct training-relat...

This paper presents the design and implementation of a control strategy for an autonomous wheelchair to assist individuals suffering from severe motor disabilities. The user is presented with a pre-generated map of a known area (e.g. home, office) displayed on a computer screen, on which the location of the wheelchair is shown. Using a specially de...

Purpose: To investigate the effects of visual and tactile intra-oral sensor-position feedback for target selection tasks with the tip of the tongue. Method: Target selection tasks were performed using an inductive tongue-computer interface (ITCI). Visual feedback was established by highlighting the area on a visual display corresponding to the a...

An online survey in the form of a questionnaire was conducted to obtain the opinion of computer users with tetraplegia on their current computer interfaces and to assess desirable applications for future independent control using assistive devices. The survey included questions related to information about the respondents' injury/disease, everyday...

Even though multisensory environments (MSE) incorporate artifacts and technology to provide sensory stimuli, most of these artifacts are non-interactive. Twenty-four children with profound developmental disabilities from three MSE institutions have been involved in a research study. A handful of interactive design artifacts, which have been develop...

This study assessed the ability of the tongue tip to accurately select intraoral targets embedded in an upper palatal tongue-computer interface, using 18 able-bodied volunteers. Four performance measures, based on modifications to Fitts's Law, were determined for three different tongue-computer interface layouts. The layouts differed with respect t...

This paper describes the development of a fuzzy inference system (FIS) for emulating an analog joystick using an inductive tongue-computer interface. The principle of operation of the interface and the inductive sensors signals are described. The FIS receives sensor signals and output the Cartesian position of the virtual joystick, which can be use...

Many computer interfaces and assistive devices for people with motor disabilities limit the input dimensionality from user to system, in many cases leading to single switch interfaces where the user can only press one button. This can, either limit the level of direct access to the functionalities of the operating system, or slow down speed of inte...

Alternative and effective methods for controlling powered wheelchairs are important to individuals with tetraplegia and similar impairments whom are unable to use the standard joystick. This paper describes a system where tongue movements are used to control a powered wheelchair thus providing users, with high level spinal cord injuries, full contr...

Typing performance of a full alphabet keyboard and a joystick type of mouse (with on-screen keyboard) provided by a wireless integrated tongue control system (TCS) has been investigated. The speed and accuracy have been measured in a form of a throughput defining the true correct words per minute [cwpm]. Training character sequences were typed in a...

Many computer interfaces and assistive devices for people with motor disabilities limit the input dimensionality from user to system, in many cases leading to single switch interfaces where the user can only press one button. This can, either limit the level of direct access to the functionalities of the operating system, or slow down speed of inte...

Typing performance of a full alphabet keyboard and a joystick type of mouse (with on-screen keyboard) provided by a wireless integrated tongue control system (TCS) has been investigated. The speed and accuracy have been measured in a form of a throughput defining the true correct words per minute [cwpm]. Training character sequences were typed in a...

This work describes a novel fully integrated inductive tongue computer interface for disabled people. The interface consists of an oral unit placed in the mouth, including inductive sensors, related electronics, a system for wireless transmission and a rechargeable battery. The system is activated using an activation unit placed on the tongue, and...

This paper presents the development of a character activation time prediction model for tongue-typing. This model is based on a modification of Fitts's law that is more suitable for tip-of-tongue selectivity tasks around the palatal area. The model was trained and evaluated with data from tongue-selectivity experiments using an inductive tongue-com...

Effective human input devices for computer control are very important to quadriplegics and others with severe disabilities. This paper describes a framework for computer control without need for special PC software or drivers. The framework is based on a tongue control system recently developed at Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction (SMI), Aalborg...

Experimental results for pointing tasks using a tongue control system are reported in this paper. Ten untrained subjects participated in the experiment. Both typing and pointing tasks were performed, in three short-term training sessions, in consecutive days, by each subject. The system provided a key pad (14 sensors) and a mouse pad (10 sensors wi...

Experimental results for pointing tasks using a tongue control system are reported in this paper. Ten untrained subjects participated in the experiment. Both typing and pointing tasks were performed, in three short-term training sessions, in consecutive days, by each subject. The system provided a key pad (14 sensors) and a mouse pad (10 sensors wi...

This work describes a novel fully integrated inductive tongue computer interface for disabled people. The interface consists of an oral unit placed in the mouth, including inductive sensors, related electronics, a system for wireless transmission and a rechargeable battery. The system is activated using an activation unit placed on the tongue, and...

A tool has been developed which can be used to evaluate human gait in a more detailed manner. Its purpose is to record data from an individual during gait then categorize and analyze the intrinsic phases with neuro-fuzzy techniques. The system is simple to use, adaptive, highly mobile, and does not require calibration. The hardware consists of four...

This study is motivated by the need to know the characteristics of the learning processes in tongue-computer interaction and to obtain a useful insight to a better design of the tongue-computer interface for computer text input. Tongue-typing can be a good alternative to hand input methods for physically disabled individuals or tasks where hand-typ...