The Research, Development, and Innovation’s Role in World Access and Use of Assistive Technology

According to the World Health Organization, about 15% of the world's population has some form of disability. The prevalence is even higher in developing countries. The proportion of disabilities is expected to increase as the population grows, medical advances, and life expectancy increases. Also, the duration and impact of military conflicts have been historically linked to the higher prevalence of disability. While the rate of disability is increasing due to the several reasons mentioned, today, as we write this article, only 1 in 10 people in need of assistive technologies that support them living with a disability can access them.

Assistive technology (AT) can be described as any tool, whether hardware or software, that supports the capabilities of persons with disabilities to live independently. AT can range from low-tech equipment such as communication cards to high-tech such as highly functioning computing devices. AT can also be merely software installed on a computing device or smartphones, such as screen readers, or hardware that controls a device, such as special keyboards, eye-trackers, or switches.

Assistive technology and inclusivity

AT has played an essential role in ensuring the inclusion of people with disability in all paths of life. It supported them in living independently and becoming active members of their societies. Also, AT has an effect on reducing the burden of the social services, health system, and caregivers. Yet, with all the benefits the AT brings, many remain with no or limited access to AT for various reasons - including economic and policy-related aspects. Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) has long played an essential role in the access and use of AT technologies by studying the context of use by identifying the barrier and opportunities in using AT in developing countries. RDI has also helped develop innovative AT technologies that support the inclusion of people with disabilities in their social, educational, and work settings. Ultimately, RDI helped identify cost-effective AT solutions to support their deployment into larger societies.

Since joining the College of Science and Engineering at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in 2016, I have established a dynamic group of world-class experts interested in RDI for AT. My interest in AT is influenced by the State of Qatar's exceptional efforts in the spheres of equality and human rights. The State of Qatar was among the first nations that ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in May 2008. In April 2015, it adopted a law on persons with disabilities that covered all the Convention's rights. In 2009, the Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology established Mada (Qatar Assistive Technology Centre), a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting people with disabilities to information and communication technology, which I currently work very closely within a number of my ongoing research project and courses. Consolidating Qatar's ongoing commitment to the rights of persons with disabilities, human rights issues in general, and human development has been a strategic choice for the nation to achieve the Qatar Vision 2030. Its comprehensive development policy means that these issues have been catered for in all four main pillars of the Visio.

Qatar-based research

In our research group at HBKU, we have worked in developing cutting-edge AT technologies, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality (AR), to support the lives of people with disabilities. We have developed and evaluated an AI-based tool to detect and assess the attention of children with autism spectrum disorder throughout the learning process. This AI-based web application, which is fully funded by Qatar National Research Fund’s Rapid Response Call grant, is cost-effective as it solely relies on a webcam—in most devices we have today.

We also worked with the Shafallah and Mada Centers to develop an AR-learning mobile app that supports children with autism in learning vocabulary in a fun and engaging way. Also, through QNRF’s National Priority Research Program, we are closely working with Mada, the University of Bristol, and Shafallah Center to develop tools that will support children with autism spectrum disorder to play and engage with their surroundings and their peers. This tool encourages children to use a range of senses, including sound, touch, and smell during play. The work is currently in its initial phases of co-creation and ideation with children at the Shafallah Center. Designing technologies to support web access to the visually impaired is one of the active areas our group is invested in. We established several projects in collaboration with the Qatar Social and Cultural Center for Blind on enhancing the user experience of the visually impaired web surfers and bridging accessibility gaps through developing web-based solutions that are cost-effective, empowering, and support the visually impaired surfing the web.

We believe that our work in RDI for AT will provide evidence-based and user-centered research of AT tools that are life-changing and cost-effective for the mass market. My new role as a member of the World Health Organization Technical Advisory Group on Assistive Technology will support leveraging relations between key International organizations, policymakers, and research in supporting the access and use of AT.

Dr. Dena Al Thani is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Interdisciplinary Programs at the College of Science and Engineering at Hamad Bin Khalifa University

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This article is submitted on behalf of the author by the HBKU Communications Directorate. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the University’s official stance.