SMART ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR VULNERABLE PEOPLE IN PUBLIC SERVICES: A MULTI-APPROACH DIDACTIC FRAMEWORK

Public services should be available and accessible to all citizens, yet marginalized categories such as Disabled and vulnerable people are not always considered during the design process and are often faced with challenges and barriers. Through a living lab, this research provides a didactical framework to foster empathy and to design innovative smart assistive technologies for Disabled people to support their interaction with public services, overcoming barriers and empowering them. [1] The inequitable allocation of resources in public services demands a rebalance in the attention economy[2], where marginalized groups rarely receive much of it [3]. On the other hand, assistive technologies are mainly individual devices that might not be accessible to everyone, for lack of economic resources or availability. With this didactic framework, participants will learn to design devices to cater to these necessities. The research explores Human-centered design to bring innovation in Inclusive design, by drawing on social sciences and computer science. Qualitative methods, such as ethnographic tools and embodied methods, were used to analyse public services and empathise with Disabled people. Conversely, the data was systematised through quantitative analysis.