Adding momentum to human abilities: lessons from research into computer-based systems for people with physical impairments

The goal of developing completely autonomous systems, which exhibit complex behaviour and which are robust in their encounters with the real world, is an ambitious one which may not be realised totally. However, powerful and useful systems can be developed which, although requiring continuous human intervention, magnify human abilities significantly. One area in which we might look to find guidelines for following this approach to augmenting human abilities is in the development of technical systems to assist people with physical and mental impairments. Research in this area is producing a number of examples of human-machine symbiosis which are instructive. A number of such prototype systems are described