Exoskeletons provide a safe and practical method of neurorehabilitation which is not physically exhausting and makes minimal demands on working memory. It is easy to learn to use an exoskeleton and they increase mobility, improve functioning and reduce the risk of secondary injury by reinstating a more normal gait pattern. A limitation of the field is the lack of experimental methods for demonstrating the relative effectiveness of the exoskeleton in comparison with other rehabilitative techniques and technologies.

A recent contribution to the ongoing debate concerning the concept of usability and its measures proposed that usability reached a dead endi.e. a construct unable to provide stable results and to unify scientific knowledge. Extensive commentaries rejected the conclusion that researchers need to look for alternative constructs to measure the quality of interaction. Nevertheless, several practitioners involved in this international debate asked for a constructive way to move forward the usability practice. In fact, two key issues of the usability field were identified in this debate: (i) knowledge fragmentation in the scientific community, and (ii) the unstable relationship among the usability metrics. We recognise both the importance and impact of these key issues, although, in line with others, we may not agree with the conclusion that the usability is a dead end. Under the light of the international debate, this work discusses the strengths and weaknesses of usability construct and its application. Our discussion focuses on identifying alternative explanations to the issues and to suggest mitigation strategies, which may be considered the starting point to move forward the usability field. However, scientific community actions will be needed to implement these mitigation strategies and to harmonise the usability practice.

Introduction: People with disabilities or special needs can benefit from AI-based conversational agents (i.e., chatbots) that are used for competence training and well-being management. Assessing the quality of interactions with these chatbots is key to being able to reduce dissatisfaction with them and to understanding their potential long-term benefit. This in turn will help to increase adherence to their use, thereby improving the quality of life of the large population of end-users that they are able to serve. Methods: Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology, we systematically reviewed the literature on methods of assessing the perceived quality of interactions with chatbots using the from Scopus and the Web of Science electronic databases. Using the Boolean operators (AND/OR) the keywords chatbot à , conversational agent à , special needs, disability were combined. Results: Revealed that only 15 of 192 papers on this topic included people with disabilities or special needs in their assessments. The results also highlighted the lack of a shared theoretical framework for assessing the perceived quality of interactions with chatbots. Conclusion: Systematic procedures based on reliable and valid methodologies continue to be needed in this field. The current lack of reliable tools and systematic methods to assess chatbots for people with disabilities and special needs is concerning, and ultimately, it may also lead to unreliable systems entering the market with disruptive consequences for people. ä IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONChatbots applied in rehabilitation are mainly tested in terms of clinical effectiveness and validity with a minimal focus on measuring the quality of the interaction The usability and interactive properties of chatbots applied in rehabilitation are not comparable as each tool is measured in different way The lack of a common framework to assess chatbots exposes people with disability and special needs to the risk of using unreliable tools ARTICLE HISTORY

A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. Abstract. The increase in the elderly population over the last thirty years with consequent increase in the number of people living with dementia (PwD) has resulted in a research focus on improving quality-of-life and well-being beyond basic needs, to address psychosocial needs and to provide technological support for these. As part of a UK industry-led, publically supported, project Connecting Assistive Solutions to Aspirations (CASA), research is being conducted to inform the design of assistive technology packages that are aspiration-led. Focus groups were conducted with informal carers (family relatives) of persons with dementia to elicit views on technology use for increasing independence of PwD (with a carer living at home). The focus groups were analysed through thematic analysis and the results have been used to produce personas and scenarios for creation of demonstrator assisted living packages.