Designing e-textiles with adults with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Electronic textiles, or e-textiles, are an emerging type of wearable and interactive technology that can gather information either actively (i.e. pressing a button) or passively (i.e. pulse rate), or act purely as an output (e.g. LEDs). Developing e-textile technology requires some familiarity with many different concepts, one of which is circuit design. Unfortunately, people with disabilities are rarely included in the design and development of e-textiles; methods to manipulate these wearable interactive technologies---such as ways to learn circuit design---are not accessible to disabled creators. In this research, we explored accessible processes to enable individuals with intellectual disabilities to create their own e-textiles. To make the circuit design process accessible, we introduced circuit design concepts via a "puzzle" metaphor and simplified the sewing process by modifying common components to decrease the level of fine motor control required to sew the circuit. We conducted a pilot study with two participants with intellectual disabilities where both participants successfully created their very own e-textile and provided feedback about the usability of the "circuit puzzle" and the form-factor of puzzle pieces.

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