Learning from children: designing the next generation of wearable technology
Children with limb differences may develop different ways of moving and interacting with the world around them. By exploring how they use a wearable robotic device, we hope to learn from their movement strategies and experiences to design future wearable technologies.
About the study
Our research explores three key questions:
How do children learn to use a wearable robotic device?
How do movement strategies differ between children with and without upper limb differences?
How can children’s movements, experiences and ideas inform the design of future wearable technologies?
Exploring Movement and Learning
We are working with children both with and without upper limb differences. Each child learns to use the wearable supernumerary device that adds an extra way to grasp and interact with objects. They then complete a series of games and tasks.
We look at how they complete the tasks and use motion tracking to study how different parts of the body work together. Rather than focusing solely on whether a task is completed successfully, we are interested in how each child approaches it and the strategies they develop along the way.
We are also working with a smaller group of adults, both with and without upper limb differences, to explore whether the differences in movement strategies we observe in children are also present in adults.
Putting Children’s Ideas at the Centre of Design
Movement tells us only part of the story.
After trying the device, children with an upper limb difference also take part in a one-to-one co-design session. These interactive sessions give children the opportunity to try out ideas, share their experiences and help shape the design of future technologies.
Together, we explore questions such as:
How comfortable and easy is the device to wear?
What would they change about its shape, size or position?
How would they prefer to control it?
What activities would they want to use it for?
What should an additional robotic body part look like — and what should it be called?
These sessions go beyond traditional interviews. Children can demonstrate their ideas, experiment with possibilities and suggest changes in ways that work for them. By involving children directly in the design process, we aim to ensure that their priorities, preferences and lived experiences help guide the development of future assistive technologies.
Name cards to help the children brainstorm names for the device.
What Are We Learning?
Our early observations suggest that children with and without upper limb differences may use different combinations of their hands, arms and trunk when learning to use the device. We are now nearing the end of data collection. Our next step is to look more closely at these movement patterns and understand what might explain the differences we observe.
Shaping Technology Around Children and Families
Our co-design sessions have already given us many ideas.
Children and adults with upper limb differences bring valuable lived experience to the design process. Their feedback is shaping our ideas about what activities the device could be designed for, how it could be controlled, and even its shape and functionality.
These conversations have encouraged us to move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, future technologies could focus more on what each person wants to do and how they already move. Flexible, modular designs, where different parts or functions can be adapted to individual needs, may be one way forward.
Designing useful technology is not only about helping someone complete a task successfully. We also need to consider how naturally a device fits with the movement strategies they have already developed, while preserving their existing abilities, such as their sense of touch.
Looking Ahead
By bringing together movement analysis and insights from co-design, our research aims to develop a deeper understanding of how people learn to use wearable robotic devices and what makes these technologies useful in everyday life.
Ultimately, we hope this work will help shape a new generation of wearable and assistive technologies that are adaptable, intuitive and designed around the people who use them.