Tag: ACCESSIBILITY

Today, most blind Web surfers rely on Braille screen displays to read online articles. And despite recent advances, it remains a pretty arduous task. Instead of using lights, like most computer screens, Braille displays use electromechanically controlled pins to show information that's been digitally converted into Braille. The converted text then appears onscreen in the form of touchable ...

Share In September, we briefly mentioned a new device that could return sight, in limited fashion, to blind patients through the use of an electrode covered "lollipop." The inch-long device is placed on the tongue and is fed electrical signals from a small camera hidden in a pair of sun glasses. These small electrical impulses allow patients who have lost their sight to recognize simple ...

We're sure plenty of you have drooled longingly as labs trot out brain-controlled computer interfaces, and thought to yourself, "When will I get me a piece of that?" Well, wonder no more, our poorly spoken friend, because that day is quickly approaching. A company called G-Tec has announced the commercial availability of its brain-computer interface, dubbed Intendix. The Intendix comes with an ...

One day, Professor Tanja Shultz of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology grew annoyed at a fellow train passenger who was loudly squawking into their cell phone. "I thought 'I need to change this'," she recently told the BBC, after unveiling -- at the Cebit Electronics Fair in Germany -- a device that can essentially read lips. Called "silent communication," Shultz's system would allow cell phone ...

In Japan, as in most of East Asia, the elderly have always enjoyed an "elevated" status in society. A new chair, however, makes that hierarchical tradition clearer -- and more literal -- than ever. Designed by researchers at Kobe University, a prototype chair unveiled at a recent Osaka robot fair uses a bed of air cushions and air-hockey-like jetstreams to hover above the ground and transport ...

Despite a function on the Kindle that reads text aloud, two universities and an advocacy group for the visually impaired adopted a staunch anti-Kindle stance Wednesday. According to an Associated Press report, the University of Wisconsin - Madison and Syracuse University won't invest in more electronic readers for college students because the audio feature is too difficult for a visually impaired ...

We're going to let you in on a little secret. The Switched "offices" don't really exist. It's really just a couple of cubicles (piled high with shipping boxes) that members of the Switched staff occasionally occupy. In reality, most of us rarely leave our beds, much less our homes. The laziness of the blogger breed is unrivaled, so we were understandably excited when we came across the Robotic ...

Louis Braille, the man that invented the system of raised bumps that allow the blind to read, will celebrate his 200th birthday this year. His gift to the world, Braille, allows the sight-deficient to live relatively normal lives, reading elevator signs and ordering from the menu at certain restaurants. However, in the increasingly touchscreen-reliant, wireless world, the blind are at a loss. MP3 ...

It's sleek, has four wheels, and looks like something Batman would ride, but this vehicle isn't meant for superheroes. This next-generation wheelchair will make life easier for the elderly and disabled. According to the AFP, the Japanese vehicle, called the Rodem, allows a rider to straddle the seat, steer with a joystick and motorcycle-style handles, and rest their knees and chest on cushions. ...

digg_url ='http://www.switched.com/2009/08/26/paralyzed-graffiti-writer-tags-again-with-eyewriter-design/'; It must be nice to have friends as kind and brilliant as those of Los Angeles graffiti artist Tony Quan. And Quan must be a great guy (and artist), to boot. Since 2003, Quan has had Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disorder that renders its sufferers largely paralyzed, while ...

Seeing-eye dogs may soon be looking for work as ordinary house pets, thanks to the development of a new "smart" walking cane. An engineering professor and his five students at Central Michigan University have developed a cane with a navigational system to aid the visually impaired. According to Newsvine, the Smart Cane uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology (the same technology ...

When 24-year-old Graham Hunt of Essex, England first played 'Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008' on the Nintendo Wii, he got hooked on golf. After mastering the game in his living room, Hunt decided that he wanted to take his Wii-mote skills to the real golf course. There was just one problem. Since a neurological disorder struck him three years ago, he's been paralyzed from the waist down. After a ...

Late one night, a woman rolled up to a White Castle drive-through in St. Paul, Minnesota on her mobility scooter. No, this is not the beginning of a joke, and she was not reenacting a scene from a recent stoner flick. Ariel Wade just wanted some burgers. And since the lobby was closed, Wade, who suffers from degenerative arthritis in her back, had no choice but to roll up on her blue scooter. ...

Hybrid cars may be designed to save the atmosphere, but there is growing concern that they may actually pose a health risk to a large number of people, most notably the blind. With the potential hazards of silent vehicles firmly in mind, the senatorial odd couple of John Kerry and Arlen Specter has introduced the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, according to AutoBlogGreen. The bill, ...

Remember that scene in 'Mr. Holland's Opus,' in which Richard Dreyfuss's deaf son turns up the sound on the stereo and sits on the speaker so he can "hear" the sound? Well, researchers at Ryerson University's Centre of Learning Technology and Toronto's Science of Music, Auditory Research and Technology Lab have taken that concept to its logical extreme and built the Emoti-Chair. The Emoti-Chair ...