Can the Context Stigmatize the Assistive Technology? A Preliminary Study Using Virtual Environments
Some studies report that aesthetics of Assistive Technologies (AT) as well as the emotional reactions that occurs when it is observed and used have great impact on stigmatization. In this scope, and based on the fact that the context influences the User E
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Abstract Some studies report that aesthetics of Assistive Technologies (AT) as well as the emotional reactions that occurs when it is observed and used have great impact on stigmatization. In this scope, and based on the fact that the context influences the User Experience (UX) with AT, we are interested in investigate if the context influences the stigmatization of an AT, in particular a traditional wheelchair. It was developed a questionnaire with semantic variables related to aesthetic and emotional reactions, used by 46 university students when interact with two virtual environments with a wheelchair: a garden environment with people and other with the wheelchair only. We did not identify statistically significant differences between the two contexts for emotional and aesthetics variables. This preliminary study points the need to develop more studies related with the influence of the participant population, the characteristics of context and the need to have a narrative to avoid different interpretations of the situation. Keywords Assistive technology
Stigma Context
1 Introduction Stigma is a broad term that represents a resulting social process of perceptions or experiences related to gender, race, culture, physical deformities or products, where subject or a group is rejected or excluded [1]. This process starts when these characteristics are observed as marks and symbols associated to feelings of shame and not belonging to the society [2]. L. Carneiro (&) T. Oliveira P. Noriega F. Rebelo FMH, Ergonomics Laboratory, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada da Costa, Cruz Quebrada, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] L. Carneiro P. Noriega F. Rebelo Universidade de Lisboa, CIAUD, Rua Sá Nogueira, Pólo Universitário, Alto da Ajuda, 1349-055 Lisbon, Portugal © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 F. Rebelo and M. Soares (eds.), Advances in Ergonomics in Design, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 485, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41983-1_26
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Among the product-related stigma are the Assistive Technology (AT) used by people with disabilities, because the perception of decreased function or disability [3]. Products that have a universal design and are obtained at the wish are more attractive and free than those who are obtained by necessity, associated with disorders and disabilities [4]. Parette and Scherer [3] also reports that the stigma associated with the use of AT is related to the expectations of the users and his family, the resulting visibility of the use of AT in public places and perceptions of others, the bystanders. Moreover it can be influenced by the aesthetics of the product, disability acceptance, genre and age of use. The wheelchair, a device that is a symbol of AT, invokes concepts about the user, like dependency, helplessness, passivity, devaluing the individual and emphasizing their disabilities [1]. The emotional responses of these users should be considered as well as functional possibilities of the wheelchair, so that the feelings a
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