Phygital Artefacts and People with Intellectual Disability: a Case Study

Intellectual disability (ID) represents a diverse group of conditions, from difficulties with abstract thought and executive skills, to limitations in the ability to live independently. People with ID are surrounded by smart devices, and yet it is rare that they are engaged in co-creating their own smart artefacts. This paper investigates how to engage different people with ID in the exploration and co-creation of specific smart artefacts, which are phygital, in that they embed programmable boards and other microelectronic devices into physical artefacts. It reports a case study with 10 people with ID. Starting from the available literature findings and phygital artefacts, it engaged participants in experiencing a storytelling activity with the phygital artefacts, firstly without guidance and secondly with guidance as per need. People with ID were finally invited to reflect on their experience and engage in an act of co-creation with their support worker, by imagining and prototyping their own artefacts. The paper concludes comparing the results of the case study against what available in the literature, thereby contributing to the advancement of research concerning the co-creation of phygital artefacts with people with ID.