The objective of this assignment is to look back at the history of an assistive technology, then to identify the present and leading edge of an assistive technology, and then to speculate on the future of an assistive technology.
NOTE: This is a group assignment.
So for this assignment, you should pick a specific piece of assistive technology, and look back on what you see are the origins and trace the history of that assistive technology, talk about what the current state-of-the-art for that AT is, and speculate on what you think this AT will be like in the future.
So let’s look at a couple of examples we’ve already mentioned in class:
 The Hearing Aid: As mentioned in class, the first time someone picked up a horn and used it to aid their hearing, that was the first ‘aid for hearing’.
Mechanical and electric hearing aids were developed following this over the centuries. I guess the state-of-art are hidden hearing devices and surgical implants. Finally in the future maybe nanotechnology implants will be used.
 Crutch: As mentioned in class, the first time someone picked up a stick and used it to aid their walking, that was the first ‘aid for walking’. Crutches have changed in terms of the materials from wood to metal, etc. I guess the state-of-art is aluminum crutches. Finally in the future maybe we’ll use forcefields instead of crutches.
So it’s up to you to choose an assistive technology, maybe the wheelchair, maybe a specific vision aid, a specific communication aid, an information technology aid, environmental adaptations, orthotics, prosthetics, eating aids, driving aids, VOCAs, memory aids, language aids, electrolarynx, seating devices, prosthetics, writing aids, magnifiers, Braille displays, audio books, scooters, artificial eyes, grab bars, respiratory appliances, and medical monitoring.
Part of this assignment will give you an opportunity to explore and identify an area of assistive technology. So for this part of the assignment you are required to identify and read 1-5 research papers in the field of AT about your particular topic.

NOTE: The key deliverable you must submit is a report, whose sections are detailed below.
 Cover Page with the usual information; your names, student numbers, module title, course code, course title, Assignment number
 Introduction explaining what the report covers (half a page).
 A discussion on which AT you are taking a look at (half a page).
 A review of the past, present and future of that AT, include 1-5 AT papers that you find interesting – you can review each paper individually, or create a review that shows how all of these papers fit into an overall research trend
(1-2 pages)
 A Reflections section where you discuss how long it took you to do this report, what parts were easy or hard, and what was your overall feelings
 about it (half a page).
 Concluding Remarks (half a page).
A Bibliography in Harvard format (you should consider using Zotero)
Marking Scheme:
Type of Assessment Marks Evaluation Criteria
Format
Critical Perspective
Background Research
Final Report
15%
15%
20%
50%
Did you follow the criteria outlined above?
Have you weighted up the multiple views and reached your own perspective through reflection?
What papers have you found? Are they wellwritten papers and significant in the field?
Quality of report, consistency of work, balance of materials, creativity
Submission of Assignment:
You are required to electronically submit your assignment on or before the due date, by e-mailing it to Damian.Gordon@dit.ie with the subject heading: "FOAT
Assignment 1" as well as presenting a hardcopy to me in the class.