Cerebral Palsy

Focus points:

Project goal

Children with cerebral palsy often experience developmental disregard in one of their hands, which means that the child does not initiate use of this hand. The goal of this project was to develop a system that monitors the movement of both hands. The focus of this project was on physical prototyping, user research, physical prototyping and data analysis.
Client

For this project, I collaborated with Adelante. Adelante is a rehabilitation centre in The Netherlands, where physical therapy is provided to children with cerebral palsy.
Process

This project started with in-depth research, combining literature studies, expert interviews, and target group observation. The sensor system was developed in two iterations, during which different sensors and other electronics were explored. In the end, a user test was performed to test the functionality and improve the accuracy of the prototype.
Final design

The final design is a sensor system that measures the movement of both hands. Both the preferred and the affected hand are monitored, to be able to compare the usage of both hands. The outcome of this project forms the starting point for my final master project feedback loop, which is part of the future design steps. This project formed the preparation for a product that encourages children with cerebral palsy to use their affected hands more during daily activities.