The Hardware and Software Performance Model - Erik Kondo

Take a moment to think about performing something you can do really well. See yourself doing it in your mind’s eye. Now, think of a person you know who can do it better than you. What is the difference? Why is this person's performance level of the activity higher than yours?

Let's deconstruct it. It is likely that the other person's capability is better than yours in terms of both his or her "Hardware" and "Software", or just one or the other.

The terms Hardware and Software are nothing other than a conceptual model that divides a person into two parts. A person's Hardware is his or her anatomical body and any mechanical aids that replace or assist his or her body's functions. On the other hand, Software refers to a person's psychology and changes neurology due to life experiences and training.

Clearly, this conceptual model is derived from computers. The output performance of a personal computer results from the integrated combination of the computer's hardware and software. A computer with high capability hardware is limited by its operating system and installed software. Conversely, a computer with low hardware functionality will not perform at a high level regardless of its level of software. Therefore, the obvious solution to create increased performance is by enhancing the computer’s hardware and software equally.

For people, increases in performance are more likely to occur in a stair-step fashion rather than in giant leaps and bounds. Most people see increases in their performance as tied to their Hardware. They think that being stronger, faster, taller, more intelligent is the key to higher performance. And they are correct, but only on a limited basis.

At any given time, most people are not using their existing Hardware to its greatest potentially anyway. Therefore, further advances in their Hardware will result in more overall underutilization of their Hardware due to the limits of their existing Software. What they really need is to increase their Software in order to maximize their current Hardware. Once this equilibrium of performance has been achieved, improving their Hardware makes sense.

I think that Society sees people with disabilities as having primary a Hardware problem. The thinking is that if you solve the Hardware problem, you have solved the entire problem. And in certain cases, this thinking makes sense. For example, replacing an amputee's limb with an artificial one is an effective Hardware solution. The high-tech prosthesis of today enables personal mobility well beyond the wooden legs of yesteryear.

But not all disabilities can be solved in the same manner. A wheelchair user from paralysis of their spinal cord is not the same as an amputee (even if they both use a wheelchair). A person with a spinal cord injury is not missing a body part that needs to be replaced. His or her body parts are not working (to various degrees) below the level of spinal cord injury. This person needs an additional mobility device that provides mobility for the entire person, not a replacement for a part of the person.

Using a car analogy, a car without a wheel needs a new wheel to continue functioning. But a car whose control system was completely severed from the wheels needs a flatbed truck to carry the car. This flatbed truck now becomes the primary mobility device (method) of the Severed Car (think wheelchair here). Whereas the other car, now with a new wheel, is back to its original method of mobility.

In the case of an amputee with a prosthesis, the very act of walking and using it translates to an increase in Software ability. The more the person pushes and tests his or her mobility, the more his/her Software (skill) is automatically developed.

But wheelchairs are different. The mentality behind traditional wheelchair use is to disregard Software and focus only on Hardware. Mobility is only thought of only in terms of developing better Hardware. In fact, many designers and engineers feel that the goal of improved Hardware is to replace the need for the person’s Software.

For example, anti-tipping devices are a Hardware solution to the problem of flipping over backwards in a wheelchair. A Software solution would be to develop the awareness and balance skill required to not flip over, similar to the reason that bicycle riders don't fall over (unless they crash). But what about the people who can't safely learn this skill? Then they should have a functional anti-tipping device on their wheelchair.

People who can't balance a bicycle may still be able to ride a tricycle. Most active able-bodied people are encouraged to learn to ride a bicycle as the default. Riding a tricycle is considered a substandard (cycle) solution because of its overall lower performance characteristics. Whereas many active wheelchair users are encouraged to install anti-tipping device on their wheelchair regardless of their capability to learn wheelie skills out of “an abundance of safety”.

Not all lower limb amputees will be able to run, but that hasn't stopped the technological advancement of specially designed running prosthetics. In a nutshell, improvements to Hardware for amputees typically lead to corresponding improvements in the person's Software. Having improved Hardware then enables them to evolve their Software to a higher level. This positive feedback loop creates an ongoing and improving output of performance.

Amputee Runners at the Bionic 5K in Cambridge, MA.

Conversely, many improvements in wheelchair Hardware diminish the user's Software. The person becomes dependent upon the Hardware to accomplish the task for them. Their Software atrophies due to lack of use. Therefore, the "rules" of mobility performance advancement which apply to amputees don't seem to apply to wheelchair users.

Improving the overall mobility performance of wheelchair users will require simultaneous improvements of their Hardware and Software. In order to do so, the medical community and engineers need to acknowledge the existence and importance of the person’s Software (to performance), not just their Hardware. And think about how improvements in Hardware can also advance rather than diminish the person’s Software.