Tag Archives: disabilities

MIT develops a vibrating wearable to help people with visual impairments navigate | TechCrunch #disabilities #tech #wearables #navigation

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For such a simple tool, the white cane has been incredibly enduring. With all of the technological advances that have been made over the past century, we haven’t come up with much better than a stick with a metal tip for helping the visually impaired get around. Though researchers at MIT have been working on a wearable solution designed to augment and, hopefully, one day replace the cane. The system features a 3D camera with an on-board computer hung around the neck at chest level. The camera senses the location of objects, converting the signals into pulsing haptic vibrations that alert the wearer to the location of an object. The on-board motors vibrate with a variety of patterns and frequencies to signify different things, like the distance of an object. READ MORE: MIT develops a vibrating wearable to help people with visual impairments navigate | TechCrunch

BlindPAD’s tablet makes visual information tactile for the vision-impaired | TechCrunch #disabilities #devices #interactive #access #visualization #vision #spatial

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It’s truly amazing, the wealth of information we all have at our fingertips — that is, of course, unless your fingertips are how you have to access that information. An innovative new tablet that uses magnetically configurable bumps may prove to be a powerful tool for translating information like maps and other imagery to a modality more easily accessed by the visually impaired.The tablet, unnamed as yet, has evolved and improved over the past few years as part of Europe’s BlindPAD project, which aims to create a cheap, portable alternative to touchscreen devices. READ MORE: BlindPAD’s tablet makes visual information tactile for the vision-impaired | TechCrunch

Samsung develops emoji-based chat app for people with language disorders | Ars Technica #emoji #language #disabilities #apps #tech #communication

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You may know someone who sends messages with more emojis than words, but chances are they don’t need those symbols to communicate. For some with language disorders such as aphasia, a disorder that can make it difficult to read, talk, or write, emojis can be an ideal way for those with the disorder to communicate with others around them. Samsung Electronics Italia, the company’s Italian subsidiary, just came out with a new app called Wemogee that helps those with language disorders talk to others by using emoji-based messages. READ MORE: Samsung develops emoji-based chat app for people with language disorders | Ars Technica

Minecraft helps kids with #autism build richer lives | CNET #MMOG #Minecraft #disabilities #tech #virtualworlds #STEM #social

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All kids love building new worlds in Minecraft. But for those living with an autism spectrum disorder, it’s also providing them with ways to engage in school and build healthy social lives. READ MORE: Minecraft helps kids with autism build richer lives | CNET

Gaming-Inspired Glove Helps Stroke Patients Relearn Vital Skills | Mashable #gaming #wellness #affective #tech #rehab #disabilities #learning #gadgets

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The Rapael Smart Glove looks a lot like the Nintendo Power Glove, but it’s not exactly a video game controller. It’s a smart rehabilitation glove for recovering stroke patients. Gaming was definitely a huge part of it, however. The glove, created by Korean health tech company Neofect, incorporates motion-based games to help stroke patients relearn how to use their arm and hand.

Neofect founder Ban Ho Young told Tech In Asia that everything they have now was made with collaboration between rehabilitation experts and game designers.

With Rapael, users can play games depending on which movements they want to work on. Want to improve your forearm supination and pronation (facing your palm upward and downward)? Strap on the glove and virtually pretend to pour yourself a glass of wine. Want to improve your finger flexion and extension? Bend and unbend your fingers to decorate cupcakes with icing. READ MORE: This gaming-inspired glove helps stroke patients relearn vital skills | Mashable

Clinical Trial Will Test if #GoogleGlass Can Help #Kids with #Autism | WIRED #assistive #tech #gadgets #devices #disabilities #learning

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For Voss, Wall, and their colleague Nick Haber, a Stanford post-doc, the idea is that their Glass software will help autistic children recognize and understand facial expressions and, through them, emotions. It operates like a game or, as Voss calls it, an “interactive learning experience.” Through the Google Glass eyewear, children are asked to, say, find someone who is happy. When they look at someone who is smiling, the app recognizes this and awards “points.” The system also records what the child does for later review. “You can plot, as they wear the glasses, how they’re improving, where they’re improving,” Wall says. “You can look at video to understand why.” READ MORE: Clinical Trial Will Test if Google Glass Can Help Kids with Autism | WIRED

Assistive Technology and Implantable Wearables | #assistivetech #implantables #wearables #health #disabilities #tech

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Many of us increasingly experiencing technology overload from all the devices, gadgets, products and tools at our fingertips. For individuals with disabilities though, technological advancements are providing opportunities to improve quality of life through innovations in assistive technology. Implantable wearables are also improving quality of life through the ability to seamlessly interact with our environments using devices such as magnets and sensors embedded under the skin. Below is a collection of select stories from around the web about recent advancements in assistive technologies and implantable devices.

Assistive Technology

Implantables

Apps

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How #Autistic People Helped Shape the Modern World | WIRED #autism #learning #disabilities

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THE CENTERS FOR Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 68 children in the US are on the autism spectrum, a number that stands in staggering contrast to a 1970 study that put the figure at one in 14,200. Some people believe we’re in the middle of an autism epidemic. But autism has always been part of the human experience, as journalist (and WIRED contributor) Steve Silberman shows in his new book, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity. It’s only recently, he argues, that we have become properly aware of it. We spoke to Silberman about how the modern world came to recognize autistic people and how autistic people helped shape the modern world. READ MORE: How Autistic People Helped Shape the Modern World | WIRED.

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The #Software Stephen Hawking Uses to Talk to the World is now #Free | Engadget #communication #disabilities #tech

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For almost 20 years, Intel has been building technology to help Stephen Hawking communicate with the world — and now the company is making the same software the world renowned physicist uses to write books, give speeches and talk available to everybody. For free. READ MORE: The software Stephen Hawking uses to talk to the world is now free | Engadget.

A Lego-Friendly Prosthetic Arm Lets #Kids Build Their Own Attachments | Gizmodo #Lego #disabilities

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Hoping to build the confidence of children living with a missing limb, Carlos Arturo Torres Tovar, of Umeå University in Sweden, has designed a prosthetic arm that’s compatible with Lego so kids can swap its gripping attachment for their own custom creations. READ MORE: A Lego-Friendly Prosthetic Arm Lets Kids Build Their Own Attachments | Gizmodo