Category Archives: Living

Notifying Doorbell

[wp_youtube]0IIwuAmIro4[/wp_youtube] From Notifying Doorbell by ClementStorck on YouTube “This project will help you to hack your doorbell to send Push notification and an email with an attached picture when somebody’s at the door. It use the free PushingBox service to delegate all the programming part and make things easy.” “The principle is simple, when someone rings the portal, a pushContinueContinue reading “Notifying Doorbell”

MedFolio – Electronic Pillbox Alerts

The MedFolio Electronic Pillbox is the usual configuration with times and days sectioned in their container, however the differences come in the electronics the box features. Each section features an LED light which glows when you are due to take it, and will stop once the related segment has been removed. The medication can beContinueContinue reading “MedFolio – Electronic Pillbox Alerts”

Live Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Using Moverio

Live translating using a microphone, a smartphone running Google Translate, and Epson Moverio Epson’s Moverio is a pair of glasses with Wi-Fi controlled by a wired touch remote running on Android. With a little experimentation and development it could possibly lead to a useful tool for the deaf and the hearing impaired. [wp_youtube]HptVoZiD_14[/wp_youtube] MoverioChannel [via Chip Chick]

Kinect and VR Goggles

Kinect and VR goggles to help with Phantom Limb Syndrome… This project uses a Kinect and VR goggles to put the patient in a virtual environment…so they get a virtual representation of their whole self projected into their goggles. http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=36085689&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0Phantom Limb Pain therapy with Kinect from Benjamin Blundell on Vimeo. Source: hackaday.com via David NContinueContinue reading “Kinect and VR Goggles”

Sonamba Wellbeing Monitor for Independence

Sonamba is an easy-to-use, stand-alone device designed to enhance caregiving for seniors or people who need a little assistance living on their own. Sonamba can send and receive messages, track normal activity patterns and warn of any changes. It provides medication and appointment reminders, and it even calls caregivers or emergency numbers. Anyone with aContinueContinue reading “Sonamba Wellbeing Monitor for Independence”

Wired: People with Quadriplegia prefer to control robots manually – thank you very much!

Wired has a great article about the use of robot arms by people with Quadriplegia. It’s definately worth a read as it surfaces some important considerations around such things as: the importance of feedback mechanisms from devices, the sense of being in control to the degree one’s abilities allow, the importance of quality user testingContinueContinue reading “Wired: People with Quadriplegia prefer to control robots manually – thank you very much!”

Wireless door access TI watch

Wireless door access using the TI hackable watch What seems “novelty” can often be essential in a different context. This type device could be great for access. The TI Chronos development kit will allow many great projects that cleverly exploit the resources of the Chronos watch. This video shows a hack that wirelessly unlocks aContinueContinue reading “Wireless door access TI watch”

One Touch Automatic Jar Opener

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 2xAAContinueContinue reading “One Touch Automatic Jar Opener”

Kind Reminder – for people with Alzheimer’s

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 withContinueContinue reading “Kind Reminder – for people with Alzheimer’s”

Voice Controlled 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 backContinueContinue reading “Voice Controlled Alarm Clock”

The Social Internet as Social Assistive Device

The social web offers a means of engagement that trascends the technology and transforms lives. Strangely or not, I tend not to see myself as disabled. Maybe that’s why I tend to focus on sharing more about what I’m doing than who I am or what I think about disability specific things – whatever thoseContinueContinue reading “The Social Internet as Social Assistive Device”

The Bottle Cap Tripod Revisited

 Back here and here in 2006 I wrote about a bottle cap tripod for your camera. There is now another take on using a bottle as a way to hold your digital camera from Photjojo. This latest one differs in that it fits over the bottle cap rather than replacing it. [The Bottle Cap Tripod atContinueContinue reading “The Bottle Cap Tripod Revisited”

Open-Source Hardware for Prosthetics

Scientific American has an article about the Open Prosthetics Project. The Open Prosthetics Project has applied the “open source” model to the design of inexpensive prosthetic hands and arms that a small demand can still support. The designs are free for anyone to use. This is an exiting project to me as it’s an example of whatContinueContinue reading “Open-Source Hardware for Prosthetics”

RFID controlled phone dialing

More and more uses are surfacing for RFID chips and I can foresee many practical applications for alternative access to a myriad of life related activities. Hackaday reports on a phone prototype which uses RFID tags to dial. It is common for our motor skills and eyesight to deteriorate as we get older. There areContinueContinue reading “RFID controlled phone dialing”

Diabetes Device & iPhone

ReadWriteWeb reports on iPhone app that wirelessly connects to a Bluetooth-enabled glucose meter. A good example and model of technology assisting health and well-being. I think lots more work on hardware device interfacing needs attention allowing software <-> hardware interactions as these types of things tend to foster possibilities for environmental control. [Diabetes Device &ContinueContinue reading “Diabetes Device & iPhone”

Bluetooth Bracelet with Vibration and Display

bluetooth wristband Hack a Day had a post about this BT bracelet. Forgetting the usefulness or otherwise of the display, I think there must be a myriad of uses due to the vibration of the device, especially for Blind users, for alerts of different kinds. [via] [Bluetooth Bracelet with Vibration and LCD Display – FromContinueContinue reading “Bluetooth Bracelet with Vibration and Display”

El-E – a laser guided “companion” Robot

El-E is a robot controlled by laser pointer. Here’s a video via healthcare-robotics : http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=777847&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1 El-E the Robot from Cressel Anderson on Vimeo. Maybe I could use this to pickup my MouthStick when I drop it. But how’d I press the button on the laser pointer? Hmmm…a real “companion” would notice I’d dropped it andContinueContinue reading “El-E – a laser guided “companion” Robot”

Bicycle Design for People with Disabilities | Future Technology

Great to see some good asthetic thought as well as pure functionality put into accessible design in this bicycle. From the Tuvie site: Bicycle designer Gavin Smith has come up with a new bicycle design that will help people with disabilities to ride the bicycle independently. Sometimes disabilities like cerebral palsy can affect the basicContinueContinue reading “Bicycle Design for People with Disabilities | Future Technology”

iPhone app to monitor your Heart

Interesting app detailed in this video that monitors your heart rate with nothing more than your iPhone and an app. Now, imagine combining this with an sms alert function to notify a chosen number of a care provider. Gets interesting. Now that’s consumer convergence with utility. http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1791560&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1 iPhone App – Heart Monitor from John BallingerContinueContinue reading “iPhone app to monitor your Heart”

Door lock operated by Internet or mobile phone.

Set to launch in October : A door lock that can be activated by mobile phone and over the internet. Can also notify via phone when someone enters. I could use this as I can use my mobile but not open my door without assistance of a keypad. This has huge potential in the communityContinueContinue reading “Door lock operated by Internet or mobile phone.”