ASPREX (Assistive Product Explorer)
Record number: 556
Last update: September 2025
Type of document: Projects
Last update: September 2025
Type of document: Projects
Funding body: World Health Organization
Partners: GATE (Global Collaboration on Assistive Technology)
Year of publication: 2025
Project start date: 12/02/2020
Project end date: 24/12/2021
Project state: Ended
F.d.G. Team:
Abstract:
The ASPREX project investigated the feasibility of a machine-reasoning system which can help identify the assistive products that can best meet the individual needs by considering each person’s goals, circumstances, type of difficulties, level of ability, and life environment. The assumption was that such a system - if well designed and driven by reliable data - could greatly favor informed and responsible choices of assistive products, by increasing task-shifting of AT provision to the non-specialist workforce at community level; and by increasing awareness about the complexity of the AT assessment and selection process, the risks associated to wrong choices and the competences needed case by case. The project led to the development of an AI-based prototype called "Assistive Product Explorer" (ASPREX). The ASPREX has been kept live on the Web for three Years (2022-2024) for testing purposes; now it is no longer online and will be probably resumed within future projects. Within the ASPREX project, an innovative model was developed to represent knowledge about assistive products. Based on this model, a knowledge base was generated for the ASPREX system, including over 2400 knowledge rules related to 65 product categories belonging to the APL (Assistive Product Priority List) of the World Health Organization. The knowledge base can be also read as a set of fact-sheets that can useful in clinical practice and for educational purposes. Each product fact-sheet is composed of 15 chapters (each related to a knowledge-rule cluster as established by the model): 1) product identification data and overall description; 2) possible configuration variants; 3) optional components; 4) product goals; 5) indicated impairments and 6) contraindicated impairments; 7) indicated and 8) contraindicated environments; 9) other indicated and 10) contraindicated factors; points to consider in 11) selection, 12) fitting, 13) use and 14) maintenance/follow-up; and 15) sources/references. The model has shown able to represent knowledge about any categories of assistive products. All the fact sheets are available for download from the SIVA and the EASTIN Web Portals.
The ASPREX project investigated the feasibility of a machine-reasoning system which can help identify the assistive products that can best meet the individual needs by considering each person’s goals, circumstances, type of difficulties, level of ability, and life environment. The assumption was that such a system - if well designed and driven by reliable data - could greatly favor informed and responsible choices of assistive products, by increasing task-shifting of AT provision to the non-specialist workforce at community level; and by increasing awareness about the complexity of the AT assessment and selection process, the risks associated to wrong choices and the competences needed case by case. The project led to the development of an AI-based prototype called "Assistive Product Explorer" (ASPREX). The ASPREX has been kept live on the Web for three Years (2022-2024) for testing purposes; now it is no longer online and will be probably resumed within future projects. Within the ASPREX project, an innovative model was developed to represent knowledge about assistive products. Based on this model, a knowledge base was generated for the ASPREX system, including over 2400 knowledge rules related to 65 product categories belonging to the APL (Assistive Product Priority List) of the World Health Organization. The knowledge base can be also read as a set of fact-sheets that can useful in clinical practice and for educational purposes. Each product fact-sheet is composed of 15 chapters (each related to a knowledge-rule cluster as established by the model): 1) product identification data and overall description; 2) possible configuration variants; 3) optional components; 4) product goals; 5) indicated impairments and 6) contraindicated impairments; 7) indicated and 8) contraindicated environments; 9) other indicated and 10) contraindicated factors; points to consider in 11) selection, 12) fitting, 13) use and 14) maintenance/follow-up; and 15) sources/references. The model has shown able to represent knowledge about any categories of assistive products. All the fact sheets are available for download from the SIVA and the EASTIN Web Portals.