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Design and evaluation of mobile sensing technologies for identifying medicines by people with visual disabilities

Agebson Rocha Façanha (Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Ceará (IFCE), Fortaleza, Brazil and Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil)
Maria Conceição Carneiro Araújo (Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil)
Windson Viana (Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil)
Jaime Sánchez (Universidad de Chile (UChile), Santiago, Chile)

International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications

ISSN: 1742-7371

Article publication date: 15 October 2019

Issue publication date: 22 November 2019

644

Abstract

Purpose

People with visual impairments may have difficulty in identifying information, either on a bottle or package of medicine. As a result, many of them need the help of a third party to discern which medication they should take. In this perspective, this study aims to assist people with visual impairments to identify their medicine by using mobile sensing technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have developed three versions of a mobile application. They use three technologies, namely, near field communication, QR code and magnetic field, for drug identification. The entire development process was based on user-centered design. And, the authors also performed an initial usability assessment of these applications with ten users who were blind.

Findings

Preliminary results show user preference for the near field communication approach and reinforce some known drawbacks concerning the use of QR code by people with visual impairments.

Research limitations/implications

Although the authors have evaluated these technologies with few mobile devices, they perceived that the acquired values of the magnetic field suffered distortions culminating, in some cases, in a non-identification of the medicine, or even in incorrect identification.

Practical implications

Current mobile device magnet sensors are not yet robust to be used for medicine identification.

Social implications

Mobile apps combined with medicine identification can contribute to the autonomy of people who are blind.

Originality/value

The main contribution of this paper is to integrate and analyze distinct mobile-based sensing technologies for identifying medicines by people with visual impairments.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was carried out in partnership with the Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of Ceará. The research was fomented by CNPq, through the Research Project of CNPq, under concession number 458825/2013-1, prepared for execution within the Call MCTI-SECIS/CNPq N 84/2013 – Assistive Technology, under the title “Research and development of digital solutions for education, culture, and interaction with mobile systems for people who are blind” – and funded by FONDECYT 1150898; by CONICYT’s Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence, Project FB0003.

Citation

Façanha, A.R., Carneiro Araújo, M.C., Viana, W. and Sánchez, J. (2019), "Design and evaluation of mobile sensing technologies for identifying medicines by people with visual disabilities", International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, Vol. 15 No. 3/4, pp. 121-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPCC-02-2019-0006

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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