Japan

The dynamic aspects of living with disability, life transitions, including aging, psychological distress, long-term conditions such as chronic pain, and new conditions such as long-COVID affect people’s abilities. Interactions with this diversity of embodiments can be enriched, empowered, and augmented through using multisensory and cross-sensory modalities to create more inclusive technologies and experiences. This workshop will explore three related sub-domains: immersive multi-sensory experiences embodied experiences, and disability interactions and design. The aim is to better understand how we can rethink the senses in technology design for disability interactions and the dynamic self, constructed through continuously changing sensing capabilities either because of changing ability or because of the empowering technology.

Research that focuses on understanding technology and how it could be used to empower people with disabilities who live in the Global South is sorely needed, yet conducting and planning studies in the field is often challenging.

We want to co-create a long-lasting, sustainable and creative community, made by and for researchers and practitioners from academia, NGOs, and the private sector who are interested in conducting work around technology for people with disabilities living in the Global South. Our unique workshop is designed to support this aim through synchronous and asynchronous activities. Our vision is to spark engagement beyond the boundaries of this CHI2021 workshop.

In July 2018, the GDI Hub team were invited to Tokyo by the British Embassy and British Council to share our knowledge and experience from the London 2012 Paralympic Games and subsequent Paralympic Legacy programme.

GDI Hub share their knowledge and experience including helping the British Paralympic Association (BPA) with their base camp preparations for Tokyo 2020.