A Study on Appearance Acceptance Appraisal of Elderly Mobility Assists

Chi-Hung Lo
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Chi-Hung Lo: Department of Industrial Design, Tunghai University, No. 1727, Section 4, Taiwan Boulevard, Xitun District, Taichung 407224, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-16

Abstract: Given the low birth rate and the rapid aging of the population in Taiwan, the issues such as long-term care, high dependency ratio, and labor shortage are no longer avertible. The mobility assists shall play a significant role in helping the elder community to live independently with dignity, and the appearance of the mobility assists should make them feel comfortable as well. Hence this study recommends the development of assistive devices, barrier-free environments, and other solutions that allows the elderly to remain independent. This study explores the influencing factors of the willingness to use exoskeleton mobility assists on the psychological aspects. The purpose of this study is to explore the key factors of the willingness to use Wearable Robotic Exoskeleton. By sorting the style of the assistive devices based on various appreciation levels, the semantic difference scale was used to investigate the influence on the appearance of the assistive device on the wearing acceptance. Lastly, this study aims to acquire the factors that affect the style of the model and the influencing factors on the wearing acceptance, providing a reference for future assistive device design and developers to increase user’s willingness to accept the product.

Keywords: wearable robotic exoskeleton; semantic difference scale; psychological identity of the elderly; willingness of using assistive devices (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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