Summer Research on In-Home Use by Henry Evans

[vynguyen91]

Hello Stretch Community!

My name is V Nguyen. I am pursuing my doctorate in occupational therapy (OT) at Pacific University in Hillsboro, Oregon. With the support of a great team, I am working on a 14-week capstone project that explores how Henry Evans, who has severe quadriplegia, can increase his independence at home using the Stretch RE1.

As part of my project, I’ve lived with Henry and his wife Jane at their home. I’ve already stayed with them for a two-week session, and my second session starts next week! During the first session, we explored activities of daily living (ADL), such as Henry feeding himself,

and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), such as Henry giving Jane a rose.

The first session exceeded everyone’s expectations! Henry enjoyed doing a variety of tasks for himself, and we found ways that robots like the Stretch RE1 could free up Jane’s time.

Many fabulous people have come together to support this effort.

• First and foremost, a huge thanks to Henry and Jane Evans. I contacted them back in February 2020, and they’ve made all of this possible through their passion and generosity. They’ve done amazing work over the years through Robots for Humanity.
• I meet regularly with Prof. Wendy Rogers and the Human Factors and Aging Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. They’ve provided hugely valuable insights and guidance throughout my project.
• Prof. Maya Cakmak and the Human-Centered Robotics Lab have enabled Henry to control Stretch through their web-based interface, which is available on GitHub as open-source code! They’ve been actively improving it based on Henry and Jane’s feedback. Also, two of the team members are now starting their own labs as faculty members: Dr. Maria “Maru” Eugenia Cabrera at UMass Lowell and Dr. Tapomayukh “Tapo” Bhattacharjee at Cornell!
• Hello Robot has also helped me throughout my project. When not at Henry and Jane’s home, I’ve been at Hello Robot headquarters, where everyone has been incredibly supportive, encouraging, and fun!

I look forward to sharing more with you after my second session! Wish me luck!

Until next time,

V

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Pacific University School of Occupational Therapy

[vynguyen91]

Hello Stretch Community!

My name is V Nguyen. You may remember me through my capstone project that explored how Henry Evans, who has quadriplegia, can increase his independence at home using the Stretch RE1, as seen in my previous post above.

The capstone project finished, and I graduated from Pacific University with my Doctorate in Occupational Therapy with the support of an incredible team essential to this capstone.

On Monday, Henry Evans and I were the headlining presentation for Hello Robot’s 2nd annual Stretch Social. The attendees were inspiring and encouraging! I wanted to take this moment to update the broader community on the second two-week session I spent with Henry and Jane last summer. I’ve also posted a video with highlights.

Henry used an updated Stretch equipped with two wide-angle cameras during the second session. One camera at the head of Stretch let Henry drive Stretch while being aware of his surroundings, and one attached at the base of the gripper increased precise grasping and manipulation of items.

Henry focused on tasks that promoted his independence without Jane’s assistance, such as printing a romantic poem; and a recipe for Jane to support meal planning. The wide-angled cameras enabled Henry to drive Stretch from his bedroom down the hall to his printer and, for the first time since his stroke, turned on the printer, retrieved the document, and gave it to Jane. Blaine from Hello Robot and I created a custom paper tray tool to promote Henry’s independence for this task.

We also explored social participation tasks that promoted Henry’s autonomy with his family. Using Stretch, Henry played on his own team during a game of cards instead of being on someone else’s team as usual. I created a custom-card holder using packaging foam, Coban tape, an empty paper towel, and rubber bands affixed to a paper towel holder.

Check out the graphical user interface Henry created based on his experience using interfaces the team created:

It has been an honor to be a part of a project that received extensive media attention. We were featured in the Washington Post and Nature. Additionally, I presented this work at the American Occupational Therapy Association Inspire 2022 Conference and the Rehab Tech Summit 2022.

Thank you for joining us on this magnificent journey! Feel free to reach out to me at v@hello-robot.com or LinkedIn if you want to connect or learn more !

In community,

V

OTD, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist

[SimonF]

Hi !

What a great project! We want to look at something similar in the UK but I note the restrictions on stretch use (in institutions etc) and I wonder how you overcame these?

Thanks

Simon

[vynguyen91]

Hello Simon,

Thank you for your enthusiastic remarks! It means a lot to us.

For me, I went through an IRB process through my university. It took some time to process, but once I got passed the IRB, I didn’t have an issue implementing Stretch with Henry and Jane, who were my case-study dyad for the purposes of this research. What are the current restrictions for Stretch use in the UK? What kinds of institutions do you want to implement Stretch in? I’m happy to support you. Do you have an email I can reach you at? Mine is v@hello-robot.com and we can connect via email to continue this conversation. I think it’d be helpful to meet to get a better idea of what you’re seeking. Let me know what you think

Thank you, Simon!

Sincerely,

V