PRESSMATIC is a portable electromechanical device which was
designed to assist people whose manual dexterity has been impaired for any
reason (ageing, illness, paralysis, etc.). Its goal is restoring the loss of functionality
of the thumb and forefinger in certain tasks that require pinching movements (e.g.
grabbing scissors, tweezers, etc.). In
this paper, a study on design considerations and user experience of PRESSMATIC is
presented. For that purpose, pilot trials were conducted at healthcare
facilities. Target users evaluated several prototypes of PRESSMATIC and their
opinions were registered. Based on this, the original design specifications
were reviewed. First, the methodology used in the study is presented.
Participants, devices and tasks are described too. Then, trial results are
shown and the system requirements will be discussed taking into account user
experience. Finally, the study conclusions are shown.