After much hard work and valuable input from a number of my therapist and research colleagues, the first version of the AIRTouch software was completed in September 2009. So far, we have 12 different tasks that are fully customizable and meet a variety of patient needs. Each of the activities was created using Adobe Flex (which I personally think is awesome) and although they are rather simple graphically, they are very fun to interact with.

In November 2009, Fraser and I were lucky enough to travel to Australia and give a conference presentation about our preliminary work at OzCHI 2009. You can read our conference publication here or email me for a copy. The publication was co-authored by D. Goertzen, J. Halton, Q. Ranson, W.F. Bischof and P. Boulanger.

A few of the upper-extremity-based activities are shown here:

Version two of the software is finished but I am waiting until I deploy them at the Glenrose before I begin writing about it and taking videos with my new Flip HD!

After I finished my MSc degree in January, I spent the next few months working on a number of projects in the AMMI lab. One of the most fruitful projects was the design and development of the AIR Touch multi-touch system. Working with Fraser Anderson and a team of researchers and occupational therapists at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, the AIR Touch system is comprised of a 3 foot by 2 foot multi-touch surface (manufactured by NOR_/D), a FireFly MV IR camera, an off-the-shelf NEC projector, a mirror, the openFrameworks software package, and a suite of rehabilitation-inspired multi touch activities written in Adobe Flex. The lovely black 2×4 stand was created by Fraser and I in my garage (thanks Dad for the supplies!).

Version One of the system:

IR Camera Image (Top), Tracking Image (Bottom):

We chose to use a very open solution, as opposed to the Microsoft Surface or a SMART table, so we could modify or add things to the hardware setup as needed. We are currently in the process of designing version two of the hardware and I will post pictures when we are done!

For my PhD research, I have been working on investigating the limitations and potential of integrating various technologies into rehabilitation programs. I have been working with a  number of occupational and physical therapists at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to help increase patient enjoyment and compliance with rehabilitation activities. So far, I have been exploring Wii peripherals, virtual reality, multi-touch surfaces, tangibles, fabric-based computing, and low range RFID and have accumulated quite a collection of devices and prototyping products.

The majority of the blog will be a documentation of my experiences with technology-assisted rehabilitation (TAR) and human computer interaction (HCI). I will try to update it as much as possible, especially with youtube videos and pictures. Any questions or comments can always be emailed to me.

I am also always looking for eager high school or undergraduate students to work with me as interns or for ideas about course projects. Please check out the WISEST and HIP programs at the University of Alberta.