World-Shaker

Unlocking independence — Students create robotic locker opener for classmate

Muscular dystrophy robbed Nick Torrance of his ability to walk, open his locker and do other everyday tasks many take for granted.

Starting this year, the Pinckney Community High School junior took a step toward being just like any other student.

He can open his own locker.

Two Pinckney seniors, Micah Stuhldreher and Wyatt Smrcka, used their robotics ingenuity and created an automatic locker opener.

Sitting in his wheelchair, Torrance slightly moves his hand over a sensor and his locker pops open. He moves his hand again, and the locker closes. Torrance, who is shy, said he likes the locker opener.

Awesome!

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows you the latest in prosthetic technology: bionic hands controlled from an iPhone app.

(by CNN)

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I love this so much.

People Are Awesome: 11th-Graders Invent a Way for Blind People to Locate the Food on Their Plate

A small group of high school juniors are the first people to tackle a serious but overlooked difficulty that blind and visually impaired people face every day: locating food on their plate.

The students worked with the design and innovation consulting firm IDEO to create a working prototype of their invention, called the Dining Band.

The Dining Band is a wrist band with a location and temperature sensor that vibrates when the person’s hand hovers over the food on the plate.

Just a note to anyone developing an app or technology for students:

VPATs are a factor. 

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I…I just…but he’s…ICAN’THANDLETHISRIGHTNOW.

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50 Best iPad Apps for Reading Disabilities

They cover:

• Helpful Tools
• Fundamentals
• Reading
• Writing
• Spelling

Here are three from the Reading section:

21. Read 2 Me: For those who have difficulty reading, apps like Read 2 Me can be a godsend. The app comes complete with an entire library of texts, all of which can be read out loud.
22. Read2Go: If you use DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) books in your classroom, Read2Go is one of the best and most accessible ways to read those books on iOS.
23. AppWriter: Designed with reading and writing disabilities in mind, this text editor for iPad integrates numerous accessibility features into standard text editing functionality.

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When I learned that Apple would finally be enabling the iPhone’s FaceTime app to work over mobile connections, I was ecstatic. As someone who is deaf, I could now use this one-touch, always-on video chat app to communicate with friends and family in my natural language: American Sign Language (ASL).

But then I found out that AT&T will block mobile FaceTime unless customers sign up for an expensive unlimited voice plan. I wasn’t thrilled with the thought of having to pay this AT&T “deaf tax” just to use the mobile data I’m already paying for.

It’s disappointing that AT&T is standing in the way of innovation that addresses the needs of its deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. Sometimes it takes a while (and some prodding) for technology and technology companies to catch up to and embrace accessibility. In this case the technology is there, but it’s AT&T that’s throwing up the barrier.

A fascinating consequence of technology. I strongly recommend clicking through to read the rest.

(via AT&T’s FaceTime Blocking Hurts the Deaf | Threat Level | Wired.com)

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8bitfuture:

Sensory feedback technology could make a touchscreen feel like anything.

Disney Research (yes that’s a real thing!) have shown off their new technology which can make any surface capable of conducting electricity feel like various other textures. The ‘Revel’ system - or Reverse Electrovibration - sends a weak current through the users skin, creating an “oscillating electrostatic field” around it.

When the electrically-charged user comes into contact with any object connected to the same ground as the Revel signal, the electrical potential difference between the finger and the electrode generates an electrostatic attraction force that creates a sensation of friction between finger and object. By varying the signal properties such as frequency or amplitude, the system can manipulate different tactile experiences.

While the system relies on electrical conductivity to work, almost any other surface could in theory be converted to do so, using a layer of conductive paint with a thin layer of insulating varnish on top.

(Source: dvice.com)

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I love this.

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imagine-tenthousand:

world-shaker:

BRB, someone’s cutting onions.

Maybe someone can help explain this to me, but… why is this at all necessary?

Could you not just lift a person out of their wheelchair and sit them down on a regular swing?

I’m replying because you’ve asked a very legitimate question in a non-jerk way (which I appreciate, especially since someone else asked the same question and was a total jerk about it). You deserve a good answer:

The short answer to your question is “No.” The longer answer is a bit more complicated, and revolves around two things.

1) The students in this photo can’t use their legs. We really take for granted how important that is, and not just for the whole walking thing. They help provide stability and balance while we sit. They help keep us in our chairs. This is why most wheelchairs have sides (so you don’t fall out). These kids don’t have that type of advanced balance because they have no use of their legs, which as a result almost literally function as anchors. If we were to take these students out of their wheelchairs and plop them into a traditional swing, they would just fall off. They don’t have the ability to balance in them, and their legs would literally be pulling them down and off the swing. Not to mention the fact that their legs would hang down and drag along the ground since they couldn’t lift them up like we can. This is also why handicapable buses don’t take people in wheelchairs out of their chairs and put them into a bus seat. Rather, they strap them and their wheelchair into a special mount or space on the bus so that it doesn’t shift during the ride.

2) One of the most important things to do with any person (not just a student) who has accessibility needs is to treat them like a normal person as much as possible. Why? Because they’re still people. People with similar goals, dreams and motivations. And what they tend to want is to be treated normally. No, this isn’t a traditional swingset. But it gives these students the chance to experience something their friends with usable legs take for granted. It’s really, really incredible. And the thought that someone took the time to build a reinforced frame to mount a swingset so that a child in a wheelchair could take part in one of the most common childhood experiences…that’s just really meaningful to me.

I hope that all helps, and just to repeat: Thank you for asking a legitimate question and not being a jerk about it. [Internet high five]

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jtotheizzoe:

joshbyard:

New Device Converts Sign Language to Audible Speech

Students at the University of Houston designed a device called MyVoice, which uses a video camera to capture a person’s sign language movements. It also contains a small video monitor, a microphone and a speaker. Software processes the images and determines what was said, and then translates the word or phrase into speech, which is transmitted through an electronic voice.

It also works backward, capturing a person’s spoken words and projecting the appropriate hand sign onto the monitor. Students sampled a database of images to train their software to recognize the hand signs, according to a UH news release. The team used between 200 and 300 images per sign.

(via Video Device Reads American Sign Language and Translates It Into Audible English | Popular Science)

Take that, Siri!

This is an incredible start.

theatlanticvideo:

How Blind People Use the iPhone 4S

Tommy Edison, aka the Blind Film Critic, has amassed over a million views on YouTube with his movie reviews. Blind since birth, he started a second YouTube channel, the Tommy Edison Experience, to talk about his life and answer questions from fans. Here, he demonstrates how he navigates his iPhone 4S to surf YouTube, check Twitter, and send messages.

This is pretty amazing. And if you’re not following Tommy Edison’s YouTube channel, you should be. He’s fascinating, and a great learning source for anyone interested in accessibility.

futurescope:

Smart Glove Helps Hearing and Sight-Impaired to Text

Folks who are deafblind traditionally focus on physical contact to communicate and use a verbose form of signing called Lorm. In an attempt to facilitate fast, casual conversation, and general mobility, researchers at Berlin’s Design Research Lab built the Mobile Lorm Glove to facilitate two-way digital communication. The wearer is able to trace Lorm across the surface of the glove and its pressure sensitive fabric translates the message to text, which is then sent via bluetooth to a smartphone. An array of tiny motors on the back of the glove spell out the return message, thus closing the loop. 

[via] [more]

It’s obviously not there yet, but this is a really cool idea. One area that really gives me hope with technology is how it might improve the lives of those with accessibility needs.

Virtual Photo Walks on Google Allow the Disabled to Explore the World →

thenextweb:

It’s a project called “Virtual Photo Walks” that got started on Google in February. Through it, people who are sick, disabled, shut-in or who can’t leave their home or bed for any reason can be taken on a virtual walk through scenic towns and cities around the world, with a worldwide contingent of photographers serving as tour guides and surrogate cameramen.