title: Assessment of control ability in the physically handicapped.
abstract: A tracking task was developed in order to obtain parameters relevant to the design of control interfaces for the physically handicapped. Principles of construction and operation are given, and methods for obtaining parameters are described. Results are presented from evaluator use with a number of subjects covering a wide range of control abilities. Overall performance in the tracking task is compared to general physical ability and experience with other control devices. One task required a response to a target which moved between two possible positions after a constant or variable time interval; correlation was observed between variables representing overall speed and accuracy. For multi-level tasks, scores equal to total time on target were obtained for tasks of differing complexity. Their values are shown to contain information on both speed and accuracy of control. Factors affecting performance are discussed and useful parameters suggested. In particular, information derived from the first, simpler task was shown to correlate well with that from the more complex tests. This type of test provides a useful general method for the interactive design and assessment of control interfaces.
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics Department, Princess Royal Hospital, Hull, UK.
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Ison
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000503:physiopathology; D012656:Self-Help Devices; D012984:Software; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014159:Transducers; D014584:User-Computer Interface