Abstract:

Robotics is the field currently taking its place as a leading candidate for dramatic changes in everyday life. Advances in the past 10 years in sensing, actuator and power technologies have fuelled an explosion of opportunities in this exciting, and surprisingly affordable domain. Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (drones) are being rapidly developed for research, public service, and commercial applications, all around the globe. Drones offer a number of unique affordances to mobile technology research for community empowerment and ‘extreme user’ access: they are relatively inexpensive, easy to operate and to fit with alternative interfaces for people of all abilities, and are readily available. Furthermore, they can carry a payload of light, inexpensive, and off-the-shelf sensors that can be used to support a wide range of research efforts. A potential helping application is planned to be developed in UCD using drones and virtual reality as surrogates to provide access to educational opportunities, extreme sports and geographical, and cultural environments to differently-abled people. This presentation will summarise the state of the art in drones research in terms of the affordances to assistive technology, and will present a case study on a potential application for drones to enable users with autism to participate in expedition teams for hiking and mountain climbing in extreme environments. Imagine being able to take any sport or imagine any far-away and otherwise inaccessible cultural heritage or educational site and to bring these rich assets to life within an immersive environment. The aim of this project is to develop the software components that will allow people off site to strap themselves into a virtual reality headset (i.e. Oculus Rift at the top end of technology, or one of the many emerging affordable VR headsets such as Google cardboard) and then - via footage taken from drone flights and other media – to be able to participate virtually, in real time, with teams who are all synchronously immersed in these learning environments. From the point of view of the camera on the plane overhead, the viewer can get a very good impression of a site, seeing things that you would not normally be visible even during a ‘real’ walk of the same terrain. Overtime, the aim is to empower and facilitate the team member on the Autistic Specturum will transition from virtual to in-person in-team activities.

Keywords:

Drones, Social Robotics, Mobile Tech, Universal Design, Inclusive Design, Access to Education, Cultural Heritage