Critical Factors Influencing User Experience on Passive Exoskeleton Application: A Review

Abstract

Wearableassistive devices such as passive exoskeletonhavebeen recognized as one of the effective solutions to assist people inindustrialwork, rehabilitation, elderly care, military and sports. Thedesign and development of a passive exoskeletonthat emphasizes on satisfying and fulfilling users’ requirements and users’ experience areessential to ensure the device remains competitive in the global market. Agood user experience of using an exoskeletonstimulates users’ satisfaction, as contemporary users are not only considering basic functional features but alsofascinated by perception values such as aesthetics and enjoyment. Themain purpose of this article is to review the critical factors that are influencing user experience before, during and after utilizing a passive exoskeleton. The authors had searched relevant articles from academic databases such as Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science as well as free Google search for the publicationperiod from 2001to 2021. Several search keywords were used such as ‘passive exoskeleton +user experience’, ‘passive exoskeleton + industry’, ‘passive exoskeleton + rehabilitation’, ‘passive exoskeleton + military’, ‘passive exoskeleton + sports’,‘passive exoskeleton + sit-stand’, and passive exoskeleton + walking’. This online search found that a total of 236 articles related to the application of passive exoskeleton in the area of industry, rehabilitation, military and sports. Out of this, 81 articles were identified as significant references and examined thoroughly to prepare the essence of this paper. Based on thesearticles, the authors revealed that the engineering design, usability, flexibility, safety and ergonomics, aesthetics, accessibility, purchase cost, after-sales service and sustainability are the critical factorsthatare influencing user experience whenemployingpassive exoskeleton.