Marion Hersh

University of Glasgow | UofG · Division of Biomedical Engineering

A wide range of portable and wearable electronic travel aids have been developed to enable visually impaired people to move around public spaces without a sighted guide. However, few of them have gone beyond the prototype stage and the long cane and guide dog are still the main mobility aids. Despite the importance of evaluation to determine, for i...

There are an estimated 285 million visually impaired people globally, with 39 million of them blind (Pascolini and Mariotti in Br J Ophthalmol: bjophthalmol-2011, [1]). Nearly 10% of the estimated 1.1 million blind people in the USA use a long cane and just under 1% a guide dog. The chapter discusses the importance of mobility for participation in...

The chapter provides an overview of the factors to be considered in the design of travel aids which meet the needs of blind, visually impaired and deafblind people. The chapter consists of two main parts. The first part comprises an introduction, brief discussions of the long cane as a successful travel aid (with limitations) and how blind people t...

The paper considers a number of important questions related to the involvement of engineers in peacebuilding and military work, including the preference of many countries for high tech weapons based security over peacebuilding, whether and in what circumstances, if any, it is justified for engineers to be involved in military work; and how engineer...

Engineers have a very important role and responsibility in shaping modern society. Diversity amongst engineers is important in fulfilling this responsibility and ensuring that the creativity and needs of the whole population are taken account of. However, only a small percentage of engineers are female and very few of them are disabled. The paper d...

In order to support schools to assess their performance in supporting children with disabilities in their ICT and ICT-AT needs, a self-assessment framework was developed by a task force of partners and associate partners of the ENTELIS project. The self-assessment tool aims to help educational establishments that welcome learners with disabilities...

The paper presents the preliminary results of an ongoing survey of the use of computers and mobile devices, interest in recommender apps and knowledge and concerns about privacy issues amongst English and Italian speaking disabled people. Participants were found to be regular users of computers and mobile devices for a range of applications. They w...

In this paper, we consider the use of games in the rehabilitation of disabled people, with particular attention to blind and partially sighted people. Serious games are currently very widely used in a variety of applications including education, training, culture, therapy and rehabilitation. However, this raises the issues of whether they are suita...

The paper investigates the current state of provision of learning technologies for autistic people and makes recommendations for the design of new technologies and the need for further research. The work is introduced by a discussion of autism from the perspective of the social model of disability. End-user involvement is obtained from interviews w...

This short paper presents five papers discussing accessibility, usability and other end-user issues related to mobile apps for disabled people. The papers include experimental investigations, end user-interviews and end-user questionnaires on particular technologies, including new prototypes, and the development of guidelines. End-user groups inclu...

The paper presents the first systematic approach to the classification of inclusive information and communication technologies (ICT)-based learning technologies and ICT-based learning technologies for disabled people which covers both assistive and general learning technologies, is valid for all disabled people and considers the full range of relev...

The main contribution of the paper is a categorisation of different types of solutions for (complex) problems based on the difference between fixes and systemic approaches. Unlike other approaches, the salient factor is not whether an approach is based on technology, but whether it only includes one component of the problem or takes a holistic appr...

The paper uses data from a 15 country study to discuss the factors which affect the use of ICT learning technologies by disabled people and consequently their access to education. Significant differences were found both between and within countries with income and language the main factors affecting availability. Thus the greatest availability was...

The paper describes an approach to designing and developing computer networks intended for application in sport, in particular, in tennis. This includes input from an expert end-user (tennis player). The objective function maximises service quality for all users. The optimum network topology proposed is a three part butterfly topology. The design m...

Despite the importance of the (long) cane as a mobility device, there are few reports of blind and partially sighted people's experiences of using it. Due to the increasing prevalence of visual impairment with age, the experiences of people with late onset visual impairment are particularly relevant. OBJECTIVE: To report on the experiences of and a...

The paper discusses the potential of assistive service robots to support disabled and elderly people. It shows that they have considerable untapped potential in this area, but also that inappropriate implementations could increase isolation, reduce independence and lead to users feeling as though they are under surveillance. The main body of the pa...

The paper presents a new seven-step methodology for using narrative ethics and two case studies illustrating its application. A brief discussion of the importance of ethics to engineers and the need to consider outcomes and macroethics introduce the paper. This is followed by overviews of the literature on narrative ethics, the ethics of care, and...

This paper presents research on the development of a wearable two-way communication and information device for deafblind people who use tactile communications methods, namely the British deafblind manual alphabet and/or Braille. The device has two components: a glove worn by the deafblind person and a handheld display with keypad to be used by thei...

The use of ICT in education is becoming increasingly important and has potential advantages to disabled learners if the technologies are appropriately designed, including for accessibility and usability, and used. This paper presents the first sets of recommendations for learning technologies for disabled people aimed at disabled learners, teachers...

The paper presents the exemplary industrial system models from the event-driven simulator up to Approximate network analytical performance evaluation system tool (Anapest). The basic approximations assumed in Anapest are roughly discussed together with the basic network configuration for which the tool was developed. The two basic ways of Anapest v...

This chapter on engineering ethics provides the background and supporting framework to the book through presenting a number of definitions, theories of ethics and techniques and approaches for applying them in practice. After the introduction, the chapter is divided into three main sections. Section 2 considers different theories of ethics, includi...

The chapter discusses the ethical issues arising from military work by scientists and engineers. It includes an overview with some depressing statistics of global military expenditure and its consequences and a presentation of a three-part model of the causes of conflict. The different types of military technology are presented from nuclear weapons...

The paper draws on case studies of the experiences of successful leading designers in the areas of hardware, software, applications and research to discuss ethical issues related to working in the ICT and automation industry in Poland. The situation both before and after the political and economic changes in 1989 is considered, with developments in...

Robotics is a very fast-growing field and presents us with both a number of exciting possibilities and the threat of significant changes to society, possibly in unforeseeable and undesirable directions. The chapter discusses the associated ethical issues. It is introduced by definitions and statistics on different types of robots and continues to a...

Editing a contributed book is often not an easy process, and chapters are often delayed. One of the authors sent me a couple of emails with the subject heading ‘almost hitman time’ and told me that if he did not make the promised deadline, I had his permission to hire an assassin. I replied that unfortunately institutional budget cuts meant that th...

One of the underlying themes of this book has been the need for engineers to adopt an ethical approach to their work and its impacts. There is a quote attributed (satirically) to World War II German rocket engineer Wernher von Braun: ‘Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?’ It was actually a 1960s fabrication by US comedian (and m...

Ensuring that their work has a positive influence on society is a responsibility and a privilege for engineers, but also a considerable challenge. This book addresses the ways in which engineers meet this challenge, working from the assumption that for a project to be truly ethical both the undertaking itself and its implementation must be ethicall...

This article draws on the experiences of 28 deafblind people in six different countries to discuss accompanied and unaccompanied independent travel for deafblind people. These experiences were obtained from interviews carried out as part of a larger research project on travel issues. The research aimed to improve understanding of their travel behav...

The paper discusses the limitations of engineering ethics as implemented in practice, with a focus on the fact that engineering and other activities are carried out without any consideration of whether the activities are themselves ethical, and on the gap between legality and ethics. This leads to the following three central ideas of the paper. The...

CIMMs (Computer Integrated Manufacturing systems) are important systems for overall automation of manufacturing enterprises, especially big ones. The general issues of the computer system topology were analyzed earlier. The present case study concerns the detailed design of the optimum LAN for the CIMMs sphere, based on the actual data for a big Po...

The paper considers the relationship between stereotyping, scapegoating, unethical behaviour and instability and shows how stereotyping and scapegoating can contribute to national and international instability. It presents a revised version of a three-part model of conflict previously developed by the author, with the components of an issue of disp...

This paper discusses issues related to communication, independence, and isolation for an understudied group of deaf people who also have visual impairments. The discussion is based on the experiences of 28 deafblind people in 6 different countries, obtained from interviews that were carried out as part of a larger research project on travel issues....

This paper draws on interviews with 27 deafblind people and the mother of an autistic deafblind woman carried out as part of a larger research project on travel issues for blind, partially sighted and deafblind people to investigate and report on issues related to the use of communication and mobility assistive devices, in particular long canes, gu...

This chapter presents an overview of accessibility and usability for educational computer-based games and the first survey of the accessibility and usability of digital educational games. The overview includes a discussion of accessibility and usability, both in general and in the specific context of educational games, as well as a brief presentati...

This chapter presents an overview of accessibility and usability for educational computer-based games and the first survey of the accessibility and usability of digital educational games. The overview includes a discussion of accessibility and usability, both in general and in the specific context of educational games, as well as a brief presentati...

This tutorial discusses accessibility and usability issues for disabled students. It briefly reports on a study of disabled students and teachers in the UK, Italy and Poland and presents guidelines and recommendations.

This paper presents a gender and country-based analysis of the results of a multi-national survey questionnaire on the attitudes, requirements and preferences of blind and visually impaired people for a robotic guide. This is introduced by a brief summary of the findings of the survey introduced and reported in Part 1 and a brief overview of some o...

CIMMs (Computer Integrated Manufacturing systems) are important systems for overall automation of manufacturing enterprises, especially big ones. The general issues of the computer system topology were analyzed earlier. The present case study concerns the detailed design of the optimum LAN for the managerial sphere, based on the actual data for a b...

This paper discusses methodological issues involved in participatory multicultural research with blind, visually impaired and deafblind people. This is an important topic for researchers in international stability, as it is related to cross-cultural research to benefit end-user groups who are frequently marginalized and who are likely to otherwise...

The present paper discusses the social and political aspects of the technology change and transfer in the domain of automation and ICT during the pioneering era in Poland (the case-study country). The paper presents some of the projects led by an exemplary leading designer who has led successfully a dozen or so significant projects (in comparison t...

One consequence of the social model of disability is the need for the community environment to be physically accessible to all members of society. This accessibility applies to both the outside environment of, for example, parks, shopping malls and bus stations and to the interior environments of, for example, schools, hospitals, health centres, sp...

The paper discusses methodological issues involved in participatory multicultural research with blind, visually impaired and deafblind people. This is an important topic for researchers in international stability, as it is related to cross- cultural research to benefit end-user groups who are frequently marginalised. Understanding of the needs of e...

This paper reports the results of a multi-national survey in several different countries on the attitudes, requirements and preferences of blind and visually impaired people for a robotic guide. The survey is introduced by a brief overview of existing work on robotic travel aids and other mobile robotic devices. The questionnaire comprises three se...

Very little research has been carried out in the United Kingdom or other countries on the views and experiences of deaf people on road safety and other aspects of travel. Historically, there has been little specific attention to either the issue of road safety for deaf people or more general travel issues affecting deaf people. Deaf-specific suppor...

The ability to travel safely and independently is very important for participation in many aspects of modern life and the police have an important role in maintaining safety on the roads. Although people with hearing impairments form a significant percentage of the population in the United Kingdom (estimated at 1 in 7 by the Royal National Institut...

This paper presents a new proposal for representing the emotional and other contextual features of subtitles to be used in educational and other audiovisual material. The main features include the use of a library of video clips of the faces of Deaf signers expressing emotions and atmospheric paintings and other graphics, as well as the use of font...

The social model of disability is discussed highlighting the recent pre-eminence achieved over the medical model of disability. The concept of “quality of life” indices is explored and its relevance to assessing assistive technology applications is described. A survey of the main assistive technology quality of life procedures is presented and the...

Visually impaired people usually require assistive technology to aid mobility and retain independent travel within the community environment. This overview chapter opens with a discussion of the travel activity and investigates how people negotiate a desired route or journey. Assistive technology for visually impaired person’s travel has had a long...

How does cultural diversity affect the development of knowledge? This chapter explores an under-researched issue namely the relationship between individualism and collectivism and knowledge creation and does this through a study of the research process in universities in a collectivist (Slovenia) and individualistic country (Australia). The Higher...

There has been increasing recognition of the importance and benefits to society of social inclusion and the full participation of disabled people. Many countries have also enacted legislation aimed at removing discrimination against disabled people. Removing barriers to full participation by disabled people will require the development of new assis...

The PDF document format is increasingly being used, including for conference CDs. This paper discusses the process of producing an accessible CD based on PDF documents for a small assistive technology conference, CVHI 07. It also analyses the accessibility features of the resulting PDF documents and the results of a survey of the conference authors...

The paper commences with a discussion of some of the factors to be taken into account in making VLEs fully accessible and usable by all disabled and nondisabled students and staff. This discussion is followed by a report and commentary on the results of two short surveys of disabled and non-disabled users of VLEs and institutional practice in highe...

The paper commences with a discussion of some of the factors to be taken into account in making VLEs fully accessible and usable by all disabled and non- disabled students and staff. This discussion is followed by a report and commentary on the results of two short surveys of disabled and non-disabled users of VLEs and institutional practice in hig...

Many assistive technology systems for the visually impaired are supported by contributions from the senses of touch, hearing and smell. This chapter openswith a description of the nature of multisensory perception as this forms an important context for the design and use of assistive technology systems. The chapter then concentrates on the sense o...

In our modern society, increasingly complex media and technology are being used to transmit information. However, to participate and enjoy the benefits of the information revolution requires a continual familiarity with the new developments, so it is important that this area remains accessible to the visually impaired community. This chapter opens...

The first of the contextual activity areas in the comprehensive assistive technology model is that of Daily Living, and this is the subject of this chapter. Thus, the chapter describes assistive technology solutions designed to remove barriers to enable visually impaired and blind people enjoy independent living in their own home. These assistive t...

Education and employment, and recreational activities complete the trio of contextual activities of the comprehensive assistive technology model, and this final chapter of the book reports on the assistive technology available in these two areas. Education and employment is divided into six subsections covering learning and teaching, and then five...

The Comprehensive Assistive Technology model was devised to describe the full social and engineering context of assistive technology devices, systems, applications, and provision. It is based on a detailed decomposition of the four attributes: Person, Context, Activities, and Assistive Technology. The paper commences will a brief discussion of the...

Equal access to services and public places is now required by law in many countries. In the case of the visually impaired, it is often the use of assistive technology that facilitates their full participation in many societal activities ranging from meetings and entertainment to the more personal activities of reading books or making music. In this...

Learning technologies are becoming increasingly important in education. Many disabled people experience barriers in accessing education and therefore these learning technologies need to facilitate access to education for disabled people rather than generate additional barriers. There is therefore a need for development and evaluation methodologies...

The research discusses the impact of national culture on the processes of knowledge management (KM) in Higher Education. In particular, it focuses on the extent to which teamwork approaches to IC development are favoured in individualistic and collectivist cultures. The study was carried out in two phases. The first, aimed at generating emerging th...

This chapter discusses the useful control strategies for a sustainable future. The open system approaches used to illuminate examples such as, technology-driven innovation, are also discussed. Usually, the open system models can cope with both the quantitative and qualitative data needed to describe and understand the human activity systems. They c...

This chapter discusses some of the ethical issues associated with terrorism and counter terrorism. The chapter reviews various factors that increase the likelihood of terrorist acts. The most widely used approaches for the analysis of terrorism are the consequentialist approaches and the just war theory. Various other approaches include rights ethi...

This chapter discusses the economic and political context in which the decisions on the energy policy are taken in the context of the UK case study. The chapter reviews the advantages and disadvantages of the renewable energy sources and their role in a sustainable and socially just energy policy. It shows that the relative economics of different e...

This chapter discusses the role of technology in overcoming the existing barriers to education and employment faced by people with specific learning disabilities. It illustrates the situation by the example of the LearnMaths toolbox for people with learning disabilities in mathematics. The context of the toolbox is respect for equality and diversit...

Many people are convinced that Sustainable Development and Mathematics are completely unrelated. Sustainable Development, in its role of a value laden imperative for polluting and over-consuming societies, seems to be totally unconnected to mathematical reasoning and ignorant of the values behind its symbols. Still, they are not only connected: the...

This paper investigates the use of feedback block diagrams to explore the role and mechanisms behind gatekeeping and the relationships between identity, values and behaviour. Feedback block diagrams are also used to investigate the ways in which power dynamics impact on technological and social development. The models are introduced by a discussion...

Since information and communication systems provide the underlying infrastructure of modern society, ethical behaviour by engineers, computer scientists and others working with and developing these systems is central to social stability. At the same time there is a range of increasing pressures and temptations to behave unethically or, at the least...

There are a number of pressures on researchers in academia and industry to behave unethically or compromise their ethical standards, for instance in order to obtain funding or publish frequently. In this paper a case study of Deaf telephony is used to discuss the pressures to unethical behaviour in terms of withholding information or misleading par...

Since information and communication systems provide the underlying infrastructure of modern society, ethical behaviour by engineers, computer scientists and others working with and developing these systems is central to social stability. At the same time there is a range of increasing pressures and temptations to behave unethically or, at the least...

Internet technology and, in particular Web-based services, have the potential to revolutionise approaches to learning. These new forms of learning could provide additional educational opportunities for people with special needs to support their social integration and integration into the knowledge-based economy. This paper starts with a short prese...

A brief survey of the literature on interdisciplinary work and a discussion of issues relating to orthodoxy and heresy are presented to introduce a questionnaire on current interdisciplinary practice and the effects of engaging in research of this kind. Preliminary results of the survey are presented and it is suggested that women may have a greate...

This case study describes the findings of two disabled people who visited an engineering laboratory. It highlights aspects of building design, room layout and equipment use that are often overlooked and which often can be rectified quite simply and inexpensively. The points raised may be used to audit any building and lab. Background The Department...

This paper applies a methodology for analysing ethical issues developed by the author to investigate the ethical issues raised by the information society. The methodology is based on the application of a number of different ethical theories, each of which highlights different features of the problem, to give a complete picture.

This paper argues that deep structures are embedded in engineering and technology discourse which work against an inclusive and locally relevant engineering ethics. The paper identifies the need for a new, process-oriented, approach to engineering ethics which enables a dynamic, reconfiguration of ethical issues. This approach must be based upon mo...

This paper briefly presents some of the main theories of ethics and then applies them to the case of military research. The study illustrates the range of ethical issues associated with military research, as well as the limitations of each theory on its own. It also highlights the advantages of the method developed by the author of combining a numb...