Users' Perceptions of Environmental Control Systems

This paper presents users' perceptions of the benefits and challenges of environmental control systems, the data having been collected as part of a project developing a new speech-driven environmental control system. The first stage of this project collected data from existing users of speech-driven environmental control systems and provided information for the specification for the new device. A secondary analysis of this data revealed perceptions about environmental control systems in general and the results are presented here. Independence and control emerged as a key aspect of environmental control systems. In addition it was possible to identify other themes around topics such as perceptions of service delivery and provision. It can be easy for a non disabled person to overlook the importance of being able to independently change the television channel or make a phone call and this data reinforces the importance of this to people who use environmental control systems.