Furniture Designs for Individuals with Physical Impairment and Self-Care Ability at Level 3 (capable of self-care but heavily reliant on assistance from relatives)

Abstract

This research aimed to: (1) study the design types of furniture for physically disabled individuals with level 3 self-care ability (those who can help themselves but still require significant assistance from family members); (2) analyze the design forms of such furniture; (3) develop prototype drafts of furniture for this target group; and (4) construct physical prototypes based on the developed draft designs using Augmented Reality (AR) and animation technologies. The key informants included 12 participants selected through purposive sampling, consisting of individuals with physical disabilities at level 3 self-care ability, their caregivers, occupational therapists, or physical therapists. Additionally, a sample group of 385 participants was selected through simple random sampling to evaluate the furniture prototypes.

              The research findings revealed that: (1) the essential furniture items for physically disabled individuals include a bed, a multi-purpose table, and a commode. These items must be appropriately sized and functionally versatile; (2) the overall evaluation of the furniture prototypes based on AR and animation drafts received the highest level of satisfaction from the sample group (mean = 4.741). Evaluation across all eight aspects also showed very high scores, including: (1) spatial proportion design, (2) functional appropriateness, (3) aesthetic value, (4) adaptability for other areas, (5) inclusivity for use by both disabled and non-disabled individuals, (6) usefulness for persons with disabilities, (7) uniqueness of the design, and (8) user preference. The mean scores for these aspects ranged from 4.660 to 4.816.