Open Glove for MS

Group 12

This project is called “designing for specific users”, which is exactly what we did. This project was all about our participant. During the first meeting with the participant the problem became clear. The participant wanted to use the electrical “bicycle” steering wheel which could be attached to the wheelchair. The problem right now was that the left hand of the participant fell off the steering wheel because the strength in the left hand wasn't good anymore. There was another problem, the participant wants to use gloves when using the steering wheel because of the cold. The thing is that the participant can't get the gloves on because the feeling is gone in her hands and when putting the hand in the glove her hand will automatically form a fist.   

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With this in mind, we needed to come up with a solution for both problems. The first thing everyone thinks about is giving mittens to the participant but that is something the participant didn’t want. With mittens, the user has even less control over what user's fingers do. So, when the participant uses mittens her hands form fists again and it will be harder to use them. Gloves were the only option, while searching for multiple solutions we mostly used the method of trial and error. The participant was greatly involved in the process. The participant tried every mock-up and gave feedback on it. Eventually, we came to the solution we now have. The participant likes it and wants to develop it even further so that it can be used in the near future.