Adapting workstations to the needs of people with mobility disabilities with virtual prototyping

The aim of the task was to develop a method of using virtual reality to design and adapt workstations to the needs of people with mobility disability, including those using wheel chairs. Tools for building virtual models of machines were selected and prepared. Then, information on workstations for people with disabilities was reviewed - that information had been gathered in 2007 by CIOP-PIB within the ZORON project. The issue of adapting workstations was analysed in two co-operatives for people with disabilities (ŚWIT and SATURN). A method for creating virtual workstations and adapting workstations to the needs of people with mobility disabilites with the use of virtual reality was developed. Types of mobility disability most common in workers were reviewed. A computer model of the human body was developed on that basis. It can be adapted to anthropological characteristics and mobility limitations of people with disabilities. A method of determining a geometrical representation of the maximal reach of a person with disabilities and the maximal zone that determines admissible work space was also developed. Three types of disabilities and four workstations were selected to demonstrate and verify the method. Tests were conducted with 13 people with disabilities. On the basis of the results of the tests it was shown that the developed method and the tools that were prepared fulfil their task by facilitating adaptation of workstations to the needs of people with mobility disability.