부산대학교 도서관

The general purpose of this paper is to introduce assistive technologies from the point of view of ergonomics. This approach is based on an appropriate understanding of the requirements of people with motor impairments, to design augmentative or palliative forms of communication. First, the authors summarise of the main features of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and its medical, psychological and technological approach, with a view to having a better understanding of this disease and reducing suffering. Second, the paper presents interactive telethesis and its functions. The user can have some controlon some aspects of his/her immediate environment : 1 / controlling alarm signals : bellwarning medical staff ; 2 / text interfacing : reading with integrated page markers and writingledinng text with online assistance for word prediction (currently based on a 90 000 word lexicon) ; 3 / television remote control : channel and volume control ; 4 / CD reader control to listen to music and audio books ; 5 / using pre-recorded sentences to communicate with nurses, friends and relatives. The objective of the investigation is to remedy the gradual deterioration of the panent's interactive functions by designing new procedures for interaction that are compatible with the central cognitive process, and to alleviate practical difficulties in the last few years of life for people suffering motor impairments. Telethesis can be viewed as an extension of interactive users who have lost most of their motion capacity. In fact, telethesis tends to support the development of intellectual, affective and social stimuli. Third, the paper presents the results of a 6-month analysis and sequential recording (240 hours of technical monitoring) of all the actions performed by a patient. The data collected made it possible to optimise the man-machine interface and to evaluate the impact of telethesis on the emotional ease experienced by a patient affected by ALS. The results show that assistive technologies designed from the viewpoint of ergonomics and on the basis of a better understanding of the stream of consciousness developing in the final years of life make it possible, not only to compensate partly for the physical deterioration, but abo to develop adaptive strategies. Our findings served as a basis ù elaborate a type of palliative communication to be implemented interactively supported by powerful mechanisms to cope with the hardships associated with this crippling disease. À partir d'un exposé sur la sclérose latérale amyotrophique, et des perspectives médicales, psychologiques et technologiques qui cherchent à appréhender cette maladie et à en réduire les souffrances, les auteurs fournissent un cadre pour développer une démarche ergonomique. La démarche ergonomique des dispositifs d'assistance se base sur la compréhension des besoins du malade pour concevoir ou aménager des technologies palliatives. Dans cette perspective, cet article présente une téléthèse interactionnelle permettant de contrôler la télévision, un lecteur de compact disque, d'écrire des textes, d'émettre des phrases préenregistrées et d'appeler le personnel soignant. Après avoir caractérisé rapidement les fonctionnalités de cette téléthèse interactionnelle, les auteurs discutent des résultats concernant l'utilisation par un malade atteint de sclérose latérale amyotrophique de cet instrument. Les résultats montrent que des outils conçus avec un souci d'ergonomie et avec une compréhension des aspects psychologiques de la fin de vie, permettent non seulement de compenser une partie des altérations physiques, mais aussi de développer des stratégies adaptatives.