lifekludger

Comparing iPads, Netbooks for AAC Use | ATMac

dnw — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:55:35 +0000

Ricky Buchanan from ATMac has some interesting thoughts and good links on Comparing iPads, Netbooks, and Auggies for AAC Use, after an RJ Cooper comparison on the topic.

on | ATMac [Source]

Open-source hardware heads towards mainstream?

Robotic Exoskeleton

dnw — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:29:52 +0000

Rex Bionics exoskeleton

[via Roy]

Exoskeletons

Boom arm workstation

dnw — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:30:38 +0000

Neat boom arm that might be very helpful :

Extremely adjustable for position, angle, height:
Boom arm is Angle adjustable.
Boom Arm is Length adjustable.
Base is height adjustable.
Platform is angle adjustable side to side, front to back.

[via] easychairworkstation.com

Clutch Pencil adapted as Touch Screen Stylus

dnw — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:37:21 +0000

Over on his Artworks blog Crabfu has this excellent how-to video on making a touch screen capable stylus from a clutch pencil and conductive foam.

This is one of the best ideas I’ve seen, using a readily available item in the clutch pencil. My thoughts in using it with your mouth are that if you get the right type of clucth pencil it should have a metal push mechanism so contact can be made with the tongue at the top and conducting down to the tip.

As for a more readily everyday available source for conductive foam there’s possibly a golden bit of information in the comments on Crabfu’s post.

“Anonymous said…
Try Scotch Brite sponges – both yellow and blue versions work.”

So remember to look at the comments!

Now for that video:

In addition to a longer mouth stick for desk work, I personally will need something pen length to use while away from desk and with phone on a lanyard around my neck if I’m ever to make the jump to capacitive touch screen phones.

Conductive Touch Capable Mouthstick from a Japanese “Liver” (Reader)

dnw — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:08:57 +0000

A couple weeks ago I received a tweet from @yukitake99 that he found Lifekludger blog helpful and he was going to try make a mouthstick for iPhone. Seems he’d been looking at some of the stuff I’d been sharing about the “Touch Barrier” and ways to work around it.

It’s always a buzz to make contact with a person who gets something out of what you do. @yukitake99 lives in Japan and has quadriplegia. So it was nice to get some feedback from across that side of the planet about Lifekludger.

And true to his word, the other day I got another tweet that he’d made the mouthstick, using the conductive foam idea blogged here, and adapted it to his use.

He also shot through a picture of it with his tweet and pointed me to a video he shot using it, both which I share below.

Well done. Thanks @yukitake99

If you would like to contact me on twitter, you can reach me as @dnwallace

Camera Mouse

dnw — Fri, 21 May 2010 09:41:56 +0000

Developed by researchers at Boston College and Boston University, Camera Mouse is a free program that enables you to control the mouse pointer on your computer screen just by moving your head.

Camera Mouse requires Windows 7, Vista, or XP and a webcam.

Some useful applications and utilities are available from the Downloads section.

Keyboard Navigation extension for Chrome

dnw — Thu, 13 May 2010 10:00:14 +0000

Came across an interesting, potentially useful tip on a extension for the Chrome web browser called “Keyboard Navigation“, on the excellent blog makeuseof.com.

From the blog:

The extension defines a hot key (,) which places a hint next to every link on the page that can be clicked. While the hint is displayed, key in the characters next to a link to highlight it. You can then do one of the following:

Hit Enter to open the highlighted link in the current tab.

Hit Ctrl + Enter to open the highlighted link in a new tab.

DIY Touchscreen Stylus using Conductive foam

dnw — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:49:53 +0000

Finally, a Stylus kludge that actually looks workable as it can be made different lengths and is cheap and easy.

Now, I just need to get hold of some of that conductive foam so I can get someone to make me up a mouthstick version.

If anyone has some foam you can post to me, please leave a comment or contact me so I can give you my address.

Here’s the video:

Well done Collin.
[via Lifehacker and Make]

Dagi Transparent Stylus for Capacitive Touch Screens

dnw — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:25:23 +0000

Isn’t it interesting how we are seeing more and more uses where there’s a need for a stylus on these capacitive touch screens? Just when everyone thinks Steve Jobs has liberated them to the freedom of the finger, it seems we aren’t so free after all and that maybe other forms of pointing can be useful.

So now we have another kludge to workaround capacitive-only screens.

And the latest entrant to the stylus scene is Dagi Stylus.

This stylus touts itself as the “first patent protected transparent capacitive touch panel stylus / Pen”. And it does indeed have a transparent, firm end, as opposed to things like the Pogo stylus that uses a softer spongy like material.

I’m surmising that the plastic material on these Dagi stylus pens is, like other type pens., a conductive material, allowing the transmission of touch from the skin holding the stylus through down to the screen. The fact the body of the stylus is metallic, like the pogo and others, also would support this theory.

The large area that the stylus presents at the screen end of the Dagi is testament to the design of these capacitive screens that have better response when the area in contact is larger and thereby covering more pickup points in the screen (just like a human finger).

What I’d desperately like to know is if this transparent material is a good enough conductor that a mouthstick could be made entirely from it, without the metal body, and if it would convey enough sensation to activate the screen.

In any sense, the fact that people are developing and expanding supply these different types of stylus means that there is a growing potential for working around the accessibility barrier these devices can bring.

Soft Sock Stylus for Touch screens

dnw — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 10:38:07 +0000

Over on Instructables is how to make a stylus out of anti-static socks for use on capacitive type touch screen devices – ala iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad etc. The stylus was the creation of dsLabs.

Looks neat, but not sure I’d want to put this sock stylus in my mouth for use as a Mouthstick!

DIY Soft iPhone and iPad Stylus from adam kumpf on Vimeo.

Soft iPhone and iPad Stylus – More DIY How To Projects

Recognition of Lifekludger’s stickytape love

dnw — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:24:22 +0000

My iStick / iKludge experimenting got a shoutout in a recent presentation at the Science Museum in the UK.

And the subject was …. “Stickytape“!

Katrina Jungnickel has the full slides and story over on her making cultures blog.

Magnets the TouchBarrier solution for capacitive screens?

dnw — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 02:06:29 +0000

Looking at this post re HTC and stylus patents, I'm going to start looking at a kludge for my mouthsticks using magnets.

HTC has a solution ready for the market. They have patented an ordinary stylus but with a twist. The stylus has a magnetic head, and due to the current induced by its movement relative to the capacitive screen is able to elicit the same electrical reaction as a finger, but with much more precision.

via wmpoeruser