This year at the International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics we received the Best Paper Award for our research aimed at developing a prototype for a smart capable microwave oven for people with intellectual disabilities.
With the fantastic team, I had the honor to work with and lead at Technological University Dublin, and with the unique contribution from Saint John of God Menny Services Dublin, we developed a system to support people with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities to interact autonomously with a microwave oven to heat and cook prepared meals.
This research was conducted between 2016 and 2017 when I was working as an A. Graves research fellow at TU Dublin.
After connecting with the group from Saint John of God Menny Services Dublin, we understood, through user-centered research, that meal preparation, even when it involves simply heating ready-made food, can be perceived as a complex process for people with cognitive disabilities.
We then embarked on a research project aimed to prototype, using a co-design approach, a Community Supported Appliance (CSA) by developing a Domain Specific Language (DSL), precisely created for a semi/automated cooking process. The DSL was shaped and expressed in the users’ idiom and allowed the CSA to support independence for users while performing daily cooking activities.
With this paper, which is the second explaining the concept of the capable microwave oven (see the first here) we wanted to contribute to creating added value to the community by developing a prototype of a microwave oven that will bridge the gap that people with cognitive disabilities experience when performing simple instrumental activities of daily living.
Ad Majora Team!