Tag: HANDICAPPED

Oh MIT, do the wonders that come from your halls ever cease? Yet another remarkable development is emerging from the fabled institution, and this time it's an autonomous wheelchair that can remember important places in a given building (read: the hospital ward, your house, the local arcade, etc.) and then take you there on command. In other words, the voice recognizing chair could understand ...

ARGO Medical Technologies' ReWalk has been out a few months now, but it's tough to really appreciate what this thing can do unless you see a patient utilize one on video. Hailed as a "quasi-robotic ambulation system," the wearable device was specifically created to assist those with lower-limb disabilities and give them back upright mobility. In the video waiting in the read link, one ...

The Internet is supposed to be the great equalizer. Race, color, creed, class, and physical handicap are supposed to of no impediment on the Web. Unfortunately, the blind face great obstacles in getting online, especially from public computers, like those in a library or Internet cafe. Screen reading software is rarely installed on these PCs, and portable options are often prohibitively ...

Brain-machine interfaces have done quite a bit in helping handicapped individuals interact with prosthetic limbs, computers and other humans, but a new neural implant concocted at the University of Florida could make all those past devices look archaic. Put simply, researchers have discovered a method that would enable brain-machine interfaces to "adapt to a person's behavior over time and use ...

(Note: The above video is a bit slow to load ... ) Michael Callahan and Thomas Coleman want to put the minds of the handicapped to work. The founders of the Champaign, Illinois-based firm Ambient have invented a wheelchair powered by the mind -- and, fortunately, you don't need Uri Geller-grade brain muscles to get the wheels spinning. The Audeo motorized wheelchair works by having the occupant ...

Researchers at Japan's Osaka University have developed a technology that is sure to be a boon to the handicapped and terminally lazy: a headset rigged with a small computer and infrared sensors that detect when the wearer clenches his teeth. These mouth movements are then translated by the headset into commands for controlling MP3 players and other devices -- a technology that could potentially ...