Miniguru keyboard
January 22nd, 2010The Miniguru keyboard is a compact keyboard that has a cut down, rearranged, minimalistic layout, layers for additional function keys, is reconfigurable and has a ‘TrackPoint’ style mouse pointer.
Blow scrolling
January 20th, 2010
Blowing into the Zyxio SensaWaft
Wired Gadget Lab has the full report on a breath-enabled interface recently shown at CES. To scroll blow steadily. To click, blow a forceful puff.
Using ‘suck, puff, blow’ switches is nothing new in the area of Assistive Technology but seeing them developed as alternative options for ‘mainstream’ Joe Public is.
Wired thinks that “The popularity of touchscreens has led human computer interaction beyond the traditional mouse and keyboard”.
I don’t know about that, but a lot of these different methods of input I find are being developed around the booming gaming sector. As seems the case with this device as the manufacturer, Zyxio, says among the first products to use it will be a gaming headset.
Read Full report at Wired: To Scroll, Take a Deep Breath and Blow
Zyxio SensaWaft
One Touch Automatic Jar Opener
January 18th, 2010
The One Touch Automatic Jar Opener is made to make life easier in the kitchen for those without the strength or with any weakness or disability.
Will open all kinds of jars at the touch of a button. It is fully automatic, just attach it to a jar and press the button.
Operates on 2xAA batteries and suitable for left or right handed people.
Via Gadgetuser: [One Touch Automatic Jar Opener « Gadgetuser.net – The latest gadgets reviews and gadget shop]
The future of brain-controlled devices – CNN.com
January 15th, 2010
CNN report on the future of brain controlled devices.
In part :
“Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) come in two varieties. Noninvasive techniques use electrodes placed on the scalp to measure electrical activity. Invasive procedures implant electrodes directly into the brain. In both cases, the devices interact with a computer to produce a wide variety of applications, ranging from medical breakthroughs and military-tech advances to futuristic video games and toys.
…
Much of the research focuses on neuroprosthetics, which offer a way for the brain to compensate for injuries and illness. “
[The future of brain-controlled devices - CNN.com]
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Etre Touchy – Gloves for your iPhone etc
January 12th, 2010
Call me a heretic, but surely there’s got to be something inherently awry (not to say anything about accessibility) with a device that has to have specialised, modified clothing for humans to use it! Just sayin.
[Etre Touchy - Gloves for your iPhone, iPod Touch, Nintendo DS, Blackberry, PDA and more...]
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Kind Reminder – for people with Alzheimer's
January 11th, 2010
The Kind Reminder is a recorder that can be worn around the neck as a necklace or just kept close by. When the patient has a moment of disorientation, they can press the button on the recorder and the voice of their caretaker will play. The website says the product is designed for people with early to mid-stage Alzheimer’s or memory loss related to age.
…
The Kind Reminder can be purchased for $19.95 plus $4.00 shipping and handling. Five percent of all sales will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Via Coolest Gadgets
Voice Controlled Alarm Clock
January 7th, 2010
moshi alarm clock
[Link: Moshi Alarm Clocks: Speak to your Moshi Alarm Clock and it speaks back]
Moshi Alarm Clocks are sleekly designed clocks with voice recognition technology.
The Moshi Alarm Clock is fully voice interactive and can be operated without ever even seeing the clock.
Speak to your Moshi in plain English and it will speak back to you, all with no setup.
It is recognized by the World Blind Union.
[via: Popgadget]
AAC in Your Pocket via iPhone
January 5th, 2010Proloquo2go software turns the iphone/ipod touch into a small, portable Augmented Alternative Communication [AAC] device.
[Proloquo2Go: AAC in Your Pocket - Introductory videos]
via madtoe & myapplespace.
ThinkPad keyboard with TrackPoint
January 3rd, 2010
ibm keyboard
Combining pointing devices with keyboards is great for those with limited reach / movement and mouth stick users. ThinkPad keyboards are fantastic. To have em as a desktop kb would be great.
[New ThinkPad keyboard features crowdsourced design, lower price]
DIY Drinking straws
December 28th, 2009
DIY Straw
These straws look useful and like a lot of fun, the $13 set comes with 20 rubber connectors and 16 straw parts to make your own drinking straw contraption…
- [via ThinkGeek] Link.
Do RIM’s optical trackpads offer Accessible Alternative to “Skin” Touch?
December 19th, 2009It seems RIM’s ‘optical pad’ technology could offer hope for the “touch barrier” that exists with the requirement for skin to touch the capacitive type pads that dominate todays gadgets.
Thinking about how your phone’s touchscreen operates, you might assume that the so-called optical pads that have been making appearances on recent BlackBerrys (among other devices) operate in a similar fashion — but you’d be wrong. RIM’s official BlackBerry blog is chiming in today to drop some knowledge on us dullards, and it turns out that “optical” isn’t just a cute nickname — the pads do actually operate in much the same way as modern desktop mice, using a low-res infrared camera to capture movement across the surface and translate it into movement. In practical terms, what this means is that you don’t need a conductive surface to operate the pad — you can use pretty much anything that the sensor can see, so a gloved hand (for instance) is theoretically good to go. …
[via: RIM's optical trackpads: they weren't joking about the 'optical' part originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:43:00 EST.]
A True Hands Free Bluetooth Headset
December 8th, 2009Meet Darrell
Earlier in the year I was contacted by Darrell. Darrell may not realise it, but he is a Lifekludger.
Darrell has a son. His son lives with a disability. His son’s disability prevented him from using a mobile phone.
earpiece
How It’s Done
By modifying a Bluetooth earpiece so that it is activated by bringing a magnet near it – thereby emulating a button press – his son is able to activate the earpiece with a tilt of his head and then give a voice command. He explains it like this:
“I mounted a magnet next to the headrest on his wheelchair…this allows [him] to simply move his head a few inches to do a quick click which is what he has to do to make a call…or to (simulate) push and hold the button, which is what he does to turn the headset On or OFF. The headset is Based on the BlueAnt V1 because it has a rich set of Voice Commands…which makes it very easy for him to use.”
Now, that, people [and by people I'm pointing at designers of devices] is true hands free voice control of a phone.
Now Darrell didn’t just contact me to brag about this – which nonetheless is definitely worth bragging about – but to offer me a review unit.
The earpiece duly arrived and contained everything one might require to get it up and running, including Blue ant Bluetooth earpiece – with modification; magnet, velcro pocket for magnet attachment, rod for attaching to chair and even multiple plastic wire-ties for attaching said rod. Oh, and instructions. This was very well thought through and welcomed, to see all pieces that would be needed to get it functioning. Too often it’s these extra little things that enable someone with a disability to use a device at all, let alone effectively.
How I Use It
magnet in splint
So my intention was to use the magnet as a replacement for finding and pressing a button. To this end I needed to get the magnet affixed to my wrist splint I wear on my left hand. You can see how this was achieved here.
I found this worked fine, when I could get the ear piece to stay in my ear-hole, a problem rectified with glue – no, on the ear piece, not my ear – and yet the proximity required of the magnet to get it to function was such that I often had the same location issues as when trying to hit a button, loosely summarised as “where the hell is my hand?!” But when I managed to get the hang of what angle my arm needed to be on, I could manage well. If I had one wish, for me, I guess a stronger magnet might be it. Except I wonder how may stray paper clips and lost pins might be attracted to my hand as I go about my day.
Here’s what it kinda looked like:
video snippet of action
I am impressed with the capabilities of the BlueAnt v1 to respond to voice commands to adjust its settings and see why Darrel chose to use it.
I personally didn’t have much joy with voice dialing but thats more a non-function of my old Windows Mobile 5 based PDA, which I use my earpiece with and operate using a pen held in my mouth, and is no reflection on the earpiece mod or it’s function.
About Time:
The overriding thing that I like about what Darrell’s done with creating the “no buttons headset” is that he’s thought outside the square, solved a problem and more so shared it. And done so paying attention to details such as only someone who has personal experience could do.
He’s shown what’s possible if you think beyond the tunnel vision that a lot of designers and makers of devices get stuck in.
By creating something that doesn’t require pushing a button before using a voice command, the no buttons headset has enabled a Bluetooth earpiece to do true ‘hands free’ voice dialing.
And it’s about time too.
Link: www.nobuttonsheadset.com
