An overview of programs and projects at the Rehabilitation Research and Development Center
David L. Jaffe · 1994 · Proceedings of the First Annual ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '94) · doi:10.1145/191028.191047
Summary
This paper provides an overview of the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center (RR&D), a federal laboratory at the Palo Alto VA Medical Center dedicated to developing assistive technologies for disabled veterans. With approximately fifty researchers across mechanical, electrical, biomedical engineering and computer science, the Center was organized into four sections: Orthopaedic Biomechanics (prosthetic joint modeling and bone healing), Neuromuscular Systems (functional electrical stimulation, muscle coordination research, stroke rehabilitation), Human-Machine Integration (HUMAC, focused on assistive devices), and Technology Transfer. The paper details several HUMAC projects in depth: a differential pressure walking assist developed with NASA-Ames that uses an inflatable chamber with positive air pressure to comfortably reduce ground reaction forces during gait rehabilitation for stroke and spinal cord injury patients; RALPH (Robotic Alphabet), a fourth-generation electromechanical fingerspelling hand for deaf-blind individuals that converts computer text to tactile fingerspelling; an ultrasonic head-controlled wheelchair interface (UHCI) enabling high-level quadriplegics to drive wheelchairs through head tilting without physical contact; an automated wayfinding system using sequential audio annunciators to guide visually impaired people through buildings; and a Vocational Training Facility teaching desktop publishing skills to quadriplegic veterans using robot-equipped workstations.
Key findings
The UHCI wheelchair interface demonstrated strong results in user evaluation with ten quadriplegic veterans — most navigated successfully after brief training and found it more intuitive, easier, requiring less concentration and producing less fatigue than conventional chin-controlled interfaces. Two UHCI wheelchairs had been in operation since 1983, and commercial prototypes were manufactured by Eureka Laboratories for multi-site VA evaluation. The RALPH fingerspelling hand addressed a specific need for the estimated 17,000 deaf-blind adults in the US, most with Usher Syndrome, who resist learning braille as it represents an admission of dual sensory loss — the robotic hand leveraged their existing fingerspelling skills. The Sound Guides wayfinding system, demonstrated at the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center, proved feasible but revealed challenges around sound localization and unfamiliar synthesized sound quality. The Vocational Training Facility achieved notable outcomes: of six quadriplegic students completing the program, four began internships and one found employment. The Technology Transfer program, enabled by the Technology Transfer Act of 1986, had moved seven products toward commercial production through cooperative agreements, licenses, and manufacturer partnerships.
Relevance
This paper provides a valuable snapshot of the state of rehabilitation engineering in the early 1990s, showcasing the breadth of assistive technology R&D happening at a single well-resourced federal laboratory. Several projects described here were ahead of their time — ultrasonic head tracking for wheelchair control presaged modern camera-based and sensor-based alternative input systems, the audio wayfinding system anticipated contemporary indoor navigation and beacon technologies, and the vocational training program modeled inclusive employment approaches now mandated by policy. The explicit focus on technology transfer — moving prototypes from lab to commercial availability — addresses a persistent challenge in assistive technology where promising research often fails to reach the people who need it. For practitioners, the paper demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinary teams (engineering, clinical, vocational), clinical evaluation with actual users, and deliberate pathways from research to market in creating impactful assistive technology.
Tags: rehabilitation engineering · technology transfer · spinal cord injury · deafblindness · wheelchair accessibility · wayfinding · assistive technology · vocational rehabilitation · veterans
Standards referenced: Technology Transfer Act of 1986