Adults with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) are often excluded from decision-making processes that shape their lives, reducing opportunities for self-expression and agency. This paper presents a co-design proposal for a public park with adults with ID, focusing on how structured activities support meaningful choices.

In this paper, we discuss the potential of shared Cross-Reality (CR) for individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs) and describe the development and preliminary evaluation of a system that implements this approach, called Social Match UP (SMUP). SMUP integrates Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) within a single cooperative game, allowing seamless transitions between the two forms of virtuality. Additionally, it incorporates a conversational assistant powered by a Large Language Model (LLM) to provide real-time guidance, encourage communication, and promote user engagement. An exploratory study was conducted with four participants diagnosed with NDDs, focusing on the usability of CR transitions and users’ perceptions of the conversational assistant. Given the small sample size, results are intended to inform design implications rather than establish statistical significance. While the ability to switch between VR and AR was acknowledged as a valuable feature, participants found the transition difficult to use, occasionally disrupting their immersion. VR was generally preferred over AR, though it remains unclear whether this preference was due to usability challenges related to reality switching. The results also indicate that the LLM-powered assistant was perceived as friendly and engaging, fostering a sense of presence, particularly in VR settings, where it felt more realistic and immersive.

A B S T R A C T Micro-electronics tools, coupled with card-based tools, are employed for prototyping smart devices with nonexperts.Lately, researchers have started investigating what tools can actively engage people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in their prototyping.This paper posits itself in this line of work.It presents a toolkit for ID people to rapidly prototype together their own ideas of smart things, for their own shared environment.It analyses and discusses engaging or disengaging features of the toolkit in light of the results of two workshops with eight ID participants.Lessons of broad interest for the design of similar toolkits are drawn from the literature and study findings.

Recent developments in accessible electronic-making toolkits have opened up avenues for individuals with intellectual disabilities(ID) to actively participate in creating their own smart objects based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology. These toolkits present a novel opportunity to foster the inclusion of this often-under-considered community in the development of personalized solutions that can impact their autonomy and well-being. However, understanding IoT encompasses comprehending the inter-object connection paradigm at the core of this technology, an aspect that is not adequately covered by the existing accessible toolkits. To fill this gap, this paper illustrates the design and evaluation of MakeNodes, a tangible toolkit to involve people with ID in making smart-thing networks in a guided, collaborative, and engaging way. The toolkit comprises a series of input and output nodes that can be paired to make any object or surface smart. The paper illustrates how MakeNodes empowers people with ID through IoT-making activities that promote collaborative work to address personal needs. Key findings are discussed in the form of lessons learned concerning the importance of physical and visual elements, hands-on exploration, and interaction robustness in improving the accessibility of IoT-making toolkits for people with ID.