Empowering Assistive Technology Communities to Make Strategic Use of Intellectual Property: Three Case Studies from the CoCreate Program

This paper explores good practices as exemplified by emerging strategies for co-design of assistive technology (AT) for persons with disabilities (PWDs). Designed not as a thorough study, but as a small set of grassroots exemplars that can inspire and instruct designers, developers, caregivers, service providers, and policy makers, the study examines three co-design projects. The three projects utilize the Humanistic Co-Design approach to designing assistive devices tailored to the needs of those with visual, mobility, and speech and language impairments. Implications for the design of AT in open innovation models are discussed, as well as potential real-world implementations.