Przegląd technologii asystujących w krajach Zatoki Perskiej: potrzeby, kierunki rozwoju i wyzwania

Maria Stojkow

doi:10.18778/0208-600X.92.07

Authors

Maria Stojkow AGH Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza w Krakowie, Wydział Humanistyczny, Katedra Studiów nad Społeczeństwem i Technologią https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8410-3730

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-600X.92.07

Keywords:

disability in Islam, assistive technologies, sign avatars, disability in Gulf States, Arabic language in assistive technologies

Abstract

This article examines the role of assistive technologies in the Gulf countries, considering their impact on the lives of people with disabilities. The perception of disability is inextricably linked to the cultural and religious context, which in turn affects the efficacy of assistive tools. In Muslim societies, the responsibility for people with disabilities is primarily borne by the family, which frequently results in their marginalisation. This article demonstrates how contemporary technologies can facilitate the emancipation of people with disabilities, particularly in the context of constraints associated with social and religious norms. The studyʼs methodology is based on case studies that illustrate the implementation of assistive technologies tailored to local requirements and cultural contexts in Gulf countries. The objective is to illustrate the particular characteristics of the region and the difficulties encountered when implementing assistive technologies in Arab communities in the Gulf, as well as their potential to enhance the quality of life of individuals with disabilities. The necessity of adapting assistive technologies for individuals with disabilities to specific linguistic and cultural contexts is becoming increasingly apparent in the present era. The functionality of assistive technologies and their use by people with disabilities are contingent upon two factors: the functionality of the technology itself and its adaptation to the cultural context in which it is to function. This issue is particularly salient in the case of technologies that deal with language processing. The Arabic language is structurally distinct from the dominant languages in assistive technologies, necessitating the development of technologies that address communication barriers in Arab society.

References

Al Thani H. (2006), Disability in the Arab region: Current situation and prospects, „Behinderung und Dritte Welt, Journal for Disability and International Development”, nr 3, s. 12–16.

Alanazi M.S. (2023), Innovation for all: Unleashing the power of assistive technology in special education in Arabic-speaking countries „Journal of ICSAR”, t. 7(2), s. 115–120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17977/um005v7i22023p178

Al-Aoufi H., Al-Zyoud N., Shahminan N. (2012), Islam and the cultural conceptualisation of disability, „International Journal of Adolescence and Youth”, t. 17(4), s. 205–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2011.649816 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2011.649565

Aldosari H. (2017), The effect of gender norms on women’s health, „Saudi Arabia Policy Paper”, nr 1/17.

Almekhalfi A.G., Tibi S. (2012), The use of Assistive Technology for people with special needs in the UAE, „Journal of International Special Needs Education”, t. 15(1), s. 56–67. https://doi.org/10.9782/2159-4341-15.1.56 DOI: https://doi.org/10.9782/2159-4341-15.1.56

A l-M u n a j j i d M.S. (1999), Guidelines on the issue of: Looking for the purposes of medical treatment, „Islam Question & Answer”, https://islamqa.info/ar (dostęp: 11.12.2024).

A l-S h a m a y l e h A.S., R o d i n a A., N a z e a n J., A b u s h a r i a h M. (2020), Language resources for Maghrebi Arabic dialects’ NLP: A survey, „Language Resources and Evaluation”, t. 54(4), s. 893–915. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10579-020-09475-2

Aziz M., Othman A. (2023), Evolution and trends in sign language avatar systems: Unveiling a 40-year journey via systematic review „Multimodal Technologies and Interaction”, t. 7(10), 97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/mti7100097

Bazna M., Hatab T.A. (2005), Disability in the Qur’an: The Islamic alternative to defining, viewing, and relating to disability, „Journal of Religion, Disability & Health”, t. 9(1), s. 5–25. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti7100097 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/J095v09n01_02

Bell D., Layton N., Smith R.O., Scherer M.J., Smith E.M. (2024), Developing a holistic process to measure assistive technology outcomes, „Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits”, t. 18, s. 1–15.

Benmarrakchia F., El Kafia J., Elhore A. (2017), Communication technology for users with specific learning disabilities, „Procedia Computer Science”, nr 110, s. 462–468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2017.06.093 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2017.06.093

Bennett A., Elman C. (2006), Qualitative research: Recent developments in the case study methods, „Annual Review of Political Science”, nr 9, s. 455–476. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.8.082103.104918 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.8.082103.104918

Borg J., Larsson S., Östergren P.O. (2011), The right to assistive technology: For whom, for what, and by whom?, „Disability & Society”, t. 26(2), s. 151–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2011.543862 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2011.543862

Bunge M. (2004), How does it work?: The search for explanatory mechanisms, „Philosophy of the Social Sciences”, nr 34, s. 182–210. https://doi.org/10.1177/0048393103262550 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0048393103262550

Danecki J. (2011), Podstawowe wiadomości o islamie, Wydawnictwo Dialog, Warszawa.

Desmond D., Layton N., Bentley J., Boot F.C., Borg J., Dhungana B.M. (2018), Assistive technology and people: A position paper from the first global research, innovation and educatio on assistive technology (GREAT) summit, „Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology”, t. 13(5), s. 437–445. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2018.1471169 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2018.1471169

Elsheikh A. (2023), Enhancing the efficacy of assistive technologies through localization: A comprehensive analysis with a focus on the Arab region, „Nafath”, t. 8(23), s. 44–50.

Farghaly A., Shaalan K. (2009), Arabic natural language processing: Challenges and solutions, „ACM Transactions on Asian Language Information Processing”, t. 8(4), s. 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/1644879.1644881 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/1644879.1644881

Fteiha M., Al-Rashaida M., Elsori D., Khalil A., Al Bustami K. (2024), Obstacles for using assistive technology in centres of special needs in the UAE, „Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology”, s. 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2024.1001875 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2024.2323698

Gadgil S., Predictable Arabic, Mada Innovation Program, https://mip.mada.org.qa/solution/predictable-arabic/ (dostęp: 17.12.2024).

Gulf News Report (2024), Dubai to showcase assistive technologies for the first time in region this November, https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/dubai-to-showcase-impressive-range-of-new-assistive-technologies-for-the-first-time-in-the-region-this-november-c2nm4zq6 (dostęp: 17.12.2024).

Habash N.Y. (2022), Introduction to Arabic natural language processing, Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66430-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2022.emnlp-tutorials.2

Hasnain R., Shaikh L.C., Shanawani H. (2008), Disability and the Muslim Perspective: An Introduction for Rehabilitation and Health Care Providers, Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange.

Hopkyns S., Elyas T. (2022), Arabic vis-à-vis English in the Gulf Bridging the ideological divide, [w:] S. Hopkyns, W. Zoghbor (red.), Linguistic Identities in the Arab Gulf States Waves of Change, Routledge, London, s. 17–32. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003149637-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003149637-3

Huer Blake M. (2000), Examining perceptions of graphic symbols across cultures: Preliminary study of the impact of culture/ethnicity, „Augmentative and Alternative Communication”, t. 16(3), s. 180–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/07434610012331279034 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07434610012331279034

Ibrahim I., Ismail M.F. (2017), Muslims with disabilities: Psychosocial reforms from an Islamic perspective, „Journal of Disability & Religion”, t. 22(1), s. 50–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/23312521.2017.1266985 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23312521.2017.1351327

Jaballah K., Jemni M. (2013), A review on 3D signing avatars: Benefits, uses and challenges, „International Journal of Multimedia Data Engineering and Management”, t. 4(1), s. 24–34. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijmdem.2013010103 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/jmdem.2013010102

Layton N., MacLachlan M., Smith R.O., Scherer M. (2020), Towards coherence across global initiatives in assistive technology, „Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology”, 15(7), s. 711–725. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2019.1587018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2020.1817162

Layton N., Bell D., Buning M.E., Chen S.C., Contepomi S., Ramos V.D., Hoogerwerf V., Inoue E.J., Moon T., Seymour N., Smith R.O., de Witte L. (2020), Opening the GATE: Systems thinking from the global assistive technology alliance, „Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology”, t. 15(5), s. 561–572. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2019.1587017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2020.1738565

Maisikeli S.G. (2023), Level of assistive technology use and awareness among people with physical disability in the United Arab Emirates, „Technology and Disability”, t. 35(1), s. 15–28. https://doi.org/10.3233/TAD-220001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/TAD-220393

Mielcarek P. (2014), Metoda case study w rozwoju teorii naukowych, „Organizacja i Kierowanie”, nr 1(161), s. 83–95.

Nadji A.Z., Boudour R. (2022), ʽIntel Acatʼ assistive platform for Arabic speaking disabled people: A complete integration, „Medical Archives”, t. 76(2), s. 111–117. https://doi.org/10.5455/medarh.2022.76.111-117 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5455/medarh.2022.76.140-146

Othman A., El Ghoul O. (2022), BuHamad – The first Qatari virtual interpreter for Qatari Sign Language, „Nafath”, t. 7(20), s. 65–73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54455/MCN.20.01

Othman A., Chemnad K., Hassanien A.E., Tlili A., Zhang C.Y., Al Thani D., Altinay F., Chalghoumi H.S., Al-Khalifa H., Obeid M., Jemni M., Al-Hadhrami T., Altinay Z. (2024), Accessible Metaverse: A theoretical framework for accessibility and inclusion in the Metaverse, „Multimodal Technologies and Interaction”, t. 8(21), s. 34–50. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti8030021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/mti8030021

PCC (2023), Kraje Zatoki Perskiej: Nowy wymiar biznesu i innowacji, https://pcc.org.pl/kraje-zatoki-perskiej-nowy-wymiar-biznesu-i-innowacji/ (dostęp: 3.01.2025).

Predictable (Therapy Box), https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/predictable/id404445007 (dostęp: 20.12.2024).

Ragin C.C., Becker H.S. (1992), What is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry, Cambridge University Press.

Ripat J., Woodgate R. (2010), The intersection of culture, disability and assistive technology, „Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology”, t. 6(2), s. 89–96. https://doi.org/10.3109/17483100903576946 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/17483107.2010.507859

Rooshey H., Shaikh L.C., Shanawani H. (2008), Disability and the Muslim Perspective: An Introduction for Rehabilitation and Health Care Providers, Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange.

Saad M.A.E., Borowska-Beszta M. (2019), Disability in the Arab world: A comparative analysiswithin culture, „International Journal of Psycho-Educational Sciences”, t. 8(2), s. 79–94.

Selina K., Zhang Z., Adnan Y., Alhumaid M. (2024), Disability research in Arab countries: A bibliometric analysis, „JDR”, t. 3(2), s. 45–58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.57197/JDR-2024-0004

Shahid Y. (2021), Digital Technology and Inequality: The Impact on Arab Countries, Economic Research Forum (ERF).

UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (2018), Disability in the Arab Region, https://www.unescwa.org/publications/disability-arab-region-2018 (dostęp: 3.01.2025).

Walsh A. (2023), How the Gulf region is planning for a life after oil, https://www.dw.com/en/how-the-gulf-region-is-planning-for-a-life-after-oil/a-67067995 (dostęp: 3.01.2025).

Younes J., Souissi E., Achour H., Ferchichi A. (2020), Language resources for Maghrebi Arabic dialects’ NLP: A survey, „Language Resources & Evaluation”, t. 54(4), s. 893–915. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10579-020-09475-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10579-020-09490-9

Zaaeed N. (2014), Accessibility, acceptance, Islamic education: Living as a Muslim with disability, https://muslimmatters.org/2014/03/04/living-as-a-muslim-with-disability/ (dostęp: 3.01.2025).