United Kingdom

Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder that causes uncontrollable muscle spasms. This is an under-researched area of medicine, and dystonia patients respond to different treatments to varying degrees. PhD student Andreas Polydorides is exploring how virtual reality (VR) might be able to help dystonia patients.

With the escalating digitisation of the world around us, touchscreens are increasingly replacing buttons and other functional devices that are easy to feel. But touchscreens are not accessible for visually impaired people. PhD student Zak Morgan is measuring ultrasound waves, which will eventually feed into improving technologies that rely on touch.

Wearable technology that can take various physiological measurements from the human body is well established. However, for long term use this technology can be obtrusive, it can give inaccurate readings, and it is not suitable for use by people with certain disabilities. PhD student Jitesh Joshi is exploring and improving a contactless way of measuring physiological signals that will help to solve these issues.

Research and assistive technology for blind and partially sighted people often focuses on built environment access, or helping people navigate from one place to another. Yet there is little information or assistance in relation to open spaces and free leisure experiences individuals might want to have. PhD student Maryam Bandukda has developed a framework and a digital platform to help solve this problem.

This PhD project by Roxana Ramirez Herrera at UCL aims to improve urban accessibility for manual wheelchair users. It explores how sensor technology and computing can better measure and present the real difficulty of pedestrian routes, going beyond basic metrics like ramp counts. Through co-design workshops, the project seeks to help users plan easier journeys and guide urban planners in identifying and addressing accessibility issues.

The aim of the network proposal was to raise awareness within the communities of Southern Africa of the value of their cultural heritage and provide insights into how these may be expressed through inclusive crafts, leading to sustainable economic development.

There is huge potential for mobile technology to improve blind and partially sighted people's experience of parks and open spaces and enable them to share these experiences with others. We are creating an accessible crowdsourced mapping system for BPSP to contribute their experience of visiting a park or open space and share these experiences in the forms of textual information, photos, sound bites, and videos to enable other people to enjoy these experiences anywhere in the world.

Running is not only about distance or speed but more a dynamic experiential journey in which emotions and subjective feelings play vital roles in constructing the runners’ experience. This research investigates how technology could support runners with the capturing and sharing of such experiential aspects of running experience beyond the running performance that current mainstream technologies provide.
 

This current work looks to develop these capabilities in soft material technology, with: the development of a printable nanocomposite stretch sensor system; a low-cost digital method for casting bespoke prosthetic liners; a liner with an embedded stretch sensor for growth / volume tracking; a model liner with an embedded active cooling system.

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were hosted at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP) with the view of creating a dynamic new heart of east London. The park was designed to continue the legacy of the Paralympic Games and to create a diverse and inclusive space for all. 
 

Our project contributes to this vision by (i) engaging the disabled community of east London in a conversation about their experiences and perceptions of the QEOP and then (ii) co-creating a multisensory representation of the experience of blind people as a reminder of diversity and inclusion at the park.

PhD student Kate Burton​ is conducting research on using 3D imaging and printing from microscopic images to provide tactile representations for visually impaired people. The aim is to take the world seen through a microscope and make it accessible to those with visual impairments​ using tactile 3D printed models​.

The aim of this project to build new low-cost approaches to more reliable mental wellbeing measurements using mobile sensing technology, supporting unconstrained and potentially a variety of everyday situations.

A research project to understand how and when manual wheelchair users need and use power assistance and to determine if fuel cell technology is suitable for the power requirements of assistive technology, specifically wheelchairs.

CROWDBOT will enable mobile robots to navigate autonomously and assist humans in crowded areas, rather than simply stopping when the going gets tough.

Fit-for-purpose, affordable body-powered prostheses is designing upper limb prostheses that are both low cost and fit for their purpose and circumstance. The project is funded through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Global Challenges Research Fund.
 

We're looking for the next generation of pioneers in this groundbreaking field.

Partnering with UCL and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the GDI Hub hosted the Enable Makeathon 2.0 in London. Five teams were selected to come to London to further develop their disability innovation ideas into new products and services over the course of a 16-day intensive ‘bootcamp’.