Ashirase aims to develop an in-shoe navigation system to help support the visually impaired with walking and routines. The company hopes to have a viable product to market before the end of March 2023. The device fits around each foot, and includes a motion sensor attached to the outside of the shoe. Pairing with a smart phone app, the device will vibrate based on routes set in the app. The left side of the left foot will vibrate to indicate a left turn (and the opposite for a right turn), while the toes of each foot will vibrate to maintain a forward trajectory.
Tag: accessibility
A ride with Andy Byford
He may not have gotten the real sense of trying to get somewhere on a tight timeline, waiting for slow elevators, or encountering broken elevators. I think he still got some good insights and learned a few new things. For instance, auto-gates, the emergency exits that double as a wheelchair entrances, only accept reduced-fare MetroCards. This was brand new information for him. The card reader was not working where we met at Times Square, and April pointed out that she wants to pay the full fare like everyone else. He also noticed that the signage to elevators also needs work and that there weren’t enough accessible areas on the train cars themselves. We were able to deliver our wishlist, and hope to continue the conversation. I believe he will continue to listen to people with disabilities
Accessibility for everyone
so very proud of the team for making it much easier to collect accessibility data for the world at scale. this matters. comes with a nice mini documentary that explains why.
Kinesicmouse
this looks interesting. it’s nice to see a “trickle down effect” from gaming to general accessibility.
The head and face controlled computer mouse. The KinesicMouse uses the Microsoft Kinect for Windows 3D camera for face tracking. Place the camera anywhere in front of you and you are ready to go. No tracking aids like reflective stickers, caps or other head mounted devices are required.
Improve NYC wayfinding
this would be a very cheap, but highly effective, intervention
15 and Learning to Speak
Patrick Otema, 15 was born profoundly deaf. In the remote area of Uganda where he lives there are no schools for deaf children, and he has never had a conversation. Raymond Okkelo, a sign language teacher, hopes to change all this and offer Patrick a way out of the fearful silence he has known his whole life.
Fonts save lives
The Clearview typeface is a beautiful example of the way design helps to improve people’s daily lives. Clearview seeks to improve the readability of highway signage for drivers, especially those over 65, who constitute 16% of the driving public.
Computers that hear
while i don’t care that much about IBMs predictions, hearing a guy speak who has been deaf since age 3 is quite impressive. he is doing pretty well.
Bionic Climbing
Vawter became the first person to stair climb wearing a prosthetic leg controlled by his mind. The climb was 103 stories, and the leg developed by DARPA.
Soft exoskeletons
I wonder whether the space or disability applications will come on line first.
2013-05-24: Warrior Web
The Army is nearing completion of a five-month series of tests to evaluate multiple Warrior Web prototype devices. The testing evaluates how each prototype incorporates different technologies and approaches to reduce forces on the body, decrease fatigue, stabilize joints and help Soldiers to maintain a natural gait under a heavy load. The testing uses a multi-camera motion-capture system to determine any changes in gait or balance, a cardio-pulmonary exercise testing device to measure oxygen consumption and a variety of sensors to collect force, acceleration and muscle activity data.
2015-07-20: Harvard Soft Exosuits
compared to a traditional exoskeleton, these systems have several advantages, the wearer’s joints are unconstrained by external rigid structures, and the worn part of the suit is extremely light.
2016-09-25: Exoskeleton to get average soldiers to run 24km/h
2018-07-06: Powered Clothing
Seismic is combining clothing and robotics into what they call Powered Clothing. They aim to get exosuits into stores by the end of 2018 in the US, Japan and the UK. The suit’s ‘electric muscles’, powered by tiny motors, contract and mimic human muscle. These electric muscles are part of the clothing around the joints of the body and attached via grips in the clothing. The grips act like tendons in the human body. A computer and sensors tracking body movements are also integrated into the suit; software tells the muscles in the clothing when to activate. The hard technology components such as motors, batteries and control boards are incorporated into hexagonal low-profile pods, designed for maximum comfort.
Gregor J. Rothfuss 