The world’s leading publication for data science, AI, and ML professionals.

How A.I. can empower Assistive Technology and raise inclusiveness

A quick introduction to how A.I. can be applied in Assistive Technology for people with disabilities.

Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash
Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

How A.I. can Empower Assistive Technology and Reduce Inequality

Digital Technology has shown a great capacity to solve real-life challenges in the last years, helping to change the economy’s vital areas, whether in the so-called Industry 4.0 or the health sector.

On the other hand, if we look beyond bits and bytes, A.I. can broaden the possibilities for inclusion at all levels. Let’s see how.

The quest for an intelligent Assistive Technology

Assistive technology is increasingly recognized and is a field of good applicability to Artificial Intelligence in addition to universal architecture.

According to an article released by Forbes Magazine with data from Coherent Industry Insights, the technology market for people with disabilities and the elderly was estimated at US$14 billion in 2015 and is predicted to reach US$26 billion by 2024.

With the assistance of artificial intelligence (A.I.) resources and modern human-computer interfaces, human beings are learning and mastering new abilities, seeking solutions to the challenges of those most in need.

With the right technologies, individuals with disabilities will have the appropriate resources to address barriers to accessing the job market.

In other words, making these resources more available to everyone is a means of guaranteeing access to places of operation traditionally inaccessible to people with disabilities.

How will Artificial Intelligence support this?

Given the full potential of A.I., technology needs to make life simpler for people in all realms.

Only one in ten individuals with disabilities had access to assistive devices worldwide. As a result, the effect on the number of jobs for this demographic is hugely significant. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is double that for people without disabilities.

In May 2018, Satya Nadella, CEO of the company, reported a five-year commitment of $25 million (about R$93 million) to artificial intelligence programs for people with disabilities.

Facebook is another internet giant investing in artificial intelligence programs for people with disabilities. The social network uses algorithms to create an instant picture summary for the blind. The functionality is not flawless and does not override a human definition but adds to a more open world.

There are several techniques of machine learning. However, they have in common that everyone wants people to show them how to learn a specific job and do what they want. For example, on Facebook, the Image Recognition Systems are monitored by people who look at the images and tell the machine what is inside them.

Speech processing and human language transcription in real-time is among the most traditional tools for artificial intelligence and are of considerable use to people with such kinds of disabilities.

While artificial intelligence resources are incredibly prevalent in smartphones, efforts are still ongoing to introduce this fact to the physical world.

Optical character recognition (OCR) powered by computer vision techniques, a method of translating text from a paper format to an electronic edition, may also be included. This means that books, printed spreadsheets, and even illustrations and text images can be transformed into an electronic format and read aloud using an electronic speech synthesizer.

A.I. will also help blind individuals or people with low vision benefit from various assistive technologies, ranging from Braille to Computer Amplification Applications, Mechanical Magnifiers, and Expanded Letter Keyboards.

Visually disabled persons should still count on the acknowledgment of optical character (OCR). The scanner type transforms text initially in a paper format to a digital format. Then, it is translated into audio. Newspapers, journals, books, and images can be read or represented aloud using an electronic voice synthesizer.

The Internet of Things has allowed more knowledge about consumers and activity patterns to be identified. Today, it is easy to plan tasks formerly difficult for many people with disabilities, such as opening and to shut doors and windows, turning on and off lights, changing mobile equipment, turning on fans, making phone calls, etc. It is called home automation.

In some situations, Assistive Technology makes the home smart. For example, apps may be enabled by a disabled resident using pre-set commands. The fascinating thing is that this form of technology also allows for self-tuning.

Thus, depending on the circumstances and signs previously described, there will be a regulation of the sun, the temperature, the protection from rain, etc., often aimed at greater independence and the householder’s safety.

A practical example of Assistive A.I.: The Computer Vision PDFReader

I am working on an application that helps users control a PDF reader using only their heads’ movements.

Using A.I., in Computer Vision, the web application detects features on the user’s face using a shape predictor to identify critical points of interest and the face image. With that information, the web app can make decisions controlling the pdf reading, like zooming in and out, changing pages, and scrolling up and down.

Many smartphone applications use the camera to monitor the mouse and the keyboard; my aim here is to increase awareness about how Artificial Intelligence can empower assistive technology, allowing people with physical disabilities to perform day-to-day tasks.

You can have more details about this web app in this article.

Conclusion

The democratization of A.I. and mobility technologies is a way to improve integration globally, leading to more and more choices and quality of life for people with disabilities.

In addition to promoting day-to-day tasks, smart devices have access to the social community’s opportunities and use the knowledge of culture itself-fundamental in learning and growth processes.

A.I. should be built and applied to reduce Inequality and collaborate with the construction of a more inclusive labor market where Intelligent capital can allow people to execute their everyday tasks more efficiently and comfortably. Likewise, I expect A.I. to give more and more fair conditions for everyone.

One more thing…

If you want to go further on your learning journey, I’ve prepared for you a great list of training courses about A.I., Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Data Science that you can do right now for free:

References


Would you like to support me?

To get access to unlimited stories, you can also consider signing up to become a Medium member for just $5. In addition, if you sign up using my link, I’ll receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you).

Join Medium with my referral link – Jair Ribeiro


Related Articles