On The Cheap

 Disability, Tech  No Responses »
Jul 132012
 

Proving yet again that assistive technology doesn’t have to be expensive, a group of researchers are showing off an eye-gaze computer interface using off-the-shelf parts. Total cost: less than $70. If only someone could figure out a way to mass-produce this tech and get it on the eyes of people who could benefit from it. Perhaps this is something that could benefit from a Kickstarter fundraising model, much more so than my idea for an on-screen keyboard. I hope those behind this project are giving some thought to ways to scale up their efforts.

Soon I Will Be Invincible!

 Disability, Tech  No Responses »
Jul 092012
 

New Scientist reports that scientists were able to remotely control a robotic body with brain impulses. It won’t be long now until my giant robot avatar leads my revolutionary forces into battle. My comrades and I will wage the battle from our uncharted island fortress. We just have to hope that the rest of the world doesn’t cut our Internet access until it’s too late.

It might be time to start drafting the blueprints for my giant robot. Let’s see, two laser cannons or three?

Blade Runner Goes To London

 Disability  1 Response »
Jul 052012
 

Congratulations to Oscar Pistorius, the first amputee to earn a spot on a national Olympic team. The South African runner has waged a long battle to get to this point and he’s sure to draw plenty of attention once the London Games begin. The sight of him competing at the Olympics will go a long way towards blurring the line between athletes with and without disabilities. He may not win any medals, but that’s probably beside the point. He will likely be this year’s most visible person with a disability.

My previous thoughts on Pistorius are here.

Crowdsourcing Accessibility Cont’d.

 Disability, Tech  No Responses »
Jun 212012
 

Thanks to those of you who responded to my half-formed idea to Kickstart an open-source on-screen keyboard. I should have realized that there were already a few options available (especially to Linux users). Still, it may be worth my time doing some additional research. If you or someone you know uses an on-screen keyboard, I’d be interested in hearing what features are important to you or what you think is missing from the currently available options. Or are there other accessibility utilities that could be improved or for which there isn’t an open-source alternative?

Crowdsourcing Accessibility

 Disability, Tech  2 Responses »
Jun 202012
 

I’ve been reading lots of articles about how game designers, fashion designers, musicians, and other creative types are using Kickstarter to crowdfund various project, which got me thinking about how it could be used to fund accessible technology. And then I started thinking about the on-screen keyboard that I use to write things like this. It’s proprietary software that hasn’t been updated in several years and a single-user license costs $350. And then I thought about how many people with disabilities simply don’t have that kind of money to spend on adaptive software.

And then I thought that it would be great if there was an open-source, cross-platform on-screen keyboard with plenty of customization features that anyone could download for free.

And then I wondered if it would be possible to pay a talented programmer or two a few grand (or ten or twenty) to design something like that. And then I wondered if this could be funded via Kickstarter.

Thoughts? Do you think it would get funded? Would I be able to find reputable coders to work on something like this? I wouldn’t keep a dime, so I’m not interested in making a profit. It just seems like a cool project that could help people.

There Once Was An App For That

 Disability, Tech, Wonkery  No Responses »
Jun 142012
 

Ars Technica is running a thoughtful article that examines the intersection of disability, technology, and intellectual property. The story centers on an app called Speak for Yourself, which allows an iPad to be used as a communication device for people with disabilities. Prentke Romich, a company that produces specialty assistive communication devices, took notice of the app and filed a patent infringement suit against the developers. The case has yet to be decided, but Prentke Romich also petitioned Apple to remove Speak for Yourself from the App Store, which Apple eventually did. The article also profiles a family whose young daughter uses the app with much success. The family has disabled Internet access on their iPad to prevent any operating system updates that might break the app and worries about what to do if their child breaks the tablet.

Incidentally, Prentke Romich is the same company that produced the headset I’m using to write this post.

The article doesn’t pick sides and I’m inclined to do the same. The app developers seem genuinely motivated to produce an affordable alternative to expensive communication devices while Prentke Romich may have legitimate concerns about protecting its patents. But the real question concerns Apple’s role in this dispute. We often think of apps as trivial things that we use for amusement or for banal tasks like getting directions or comparison shopping. But as mobile technology becomes more powerful and more critical to our daily lives, certain apps may become indispensable to some users. Should companies like Apple have the power to unilaterally pull an app when another party complains? And if so, do we really own the apps that we purchase? Should a communications app that is essential to daily living for some be subject to the same internal policies as Angry Birds? These are big questions that have so far received little attention.

The Real Gimps Of L.A.

 Disability, Pop Culture  No Responses »
May 312012
 

The Sundance Channel is premiering a new reality/documentary series entitled Push Girls, which focuses on four Los Angeles women who have varying degrees of paralysis and use wheelchairs. The first episode is available on the website and I plan on watching it when I have the time. It’s great to have any representation of disability on television and I’m glad these women are getting a moment to shine in the public eye.

But based on the trailers for the show and interviews like this one from Ellen, Push Girls seems a bit too narrowly focused for my taste. All of the women are astonishingly beautiful and seem to require little personal assistance. They also acquired their disabilities later in life. I’m sure they encounter plenty of discrimination and clueless people, but their experiences are bound to be vastly different than those of most people with physical disabilities. The show could be so much more interesting if it included stories of women with other disabilities who may not be as attractive as these four, but who still have interesting stories to share.

It may sound like I’m hating on the show because it features women who are gorgeous and nobody who looks like, well, me. That’s not my intent. Plenty of people with disabilities are physically attractive and their experience of gimpness is just as real as mine. I’m just not sure that Hollywood can grasp any notion of disability that goes beyond an attractive person in a sitting position. I can’t remember the last time I watched a TV show or movie featuring a person in a wheelchair who didn’t look like an actor sitting in a wheelchair. Push Girls is a step above that, certainly, but I just wish that the show’s producers had shown more of an interest in showing the audience a more complete picture of disability.

Hand To Mouth

 Disability, Tech  No Responses »
May 242012
 

While mind-controlled robotic arms are undeniably cool (and just a teensy bit ominous), some of us gimps may not want to go through the trouble of getting our skulls cracked just so we can re-enact scenes from Over the Top. But we still want to be able to feed ourselves the occasional snack while catching up on Game of Thrones. Luckily, there’s a robotic arm that does just that without requiring the installation of any internal hardware. A team of Northeastern University engineering students have developed the iCRAFT, or eye Con­trolled Robotic Arm Feeding Tech­nology. The user simply gazes at a particular food choices on a screen and a robotic arm scoops up a mouthful of the desired selection and delivers it to the user’s mouth.  Here’s a video of the arm in action:

The iCRAFT’s serving sizes are a bit much for someone like me, but perhaps it could be programmed to feed me individual Junior Mints.

Godspeed, Katie Beckett

 Disability  No Responses »
May 222012
 

NPR reports the sad news that disability rights activist Katie Beckett died last Friday from health complications. I’ve written previously about Katie and how, as a child with a complex medical condition facing permanent institutionalization because Medicaid wouldn’t pay for home care services, she earned the attention of the Reagan administration and won the right for her and countless other children with disabilities to remain at home while receiving the care they require. She made a profound difference in the lives of kids like me who might have otherwise spent our childhoods in medical facilities apart from our families. My life is immeasurably better because of what Katie accomplished and her friends and family should be deeply proud of her legacy.

 

The Mind’s Grasp

 Disability, Tech  2 Responses »
May 162012
 

Research on brain-computer interfaces continues its steady march forward. The latest development reported by The Times focuses on a quadriplegic woman who can control a robotic arm via an implanted chip. She’s able to move the arm with enough fine control to take a sip of coffee through a drinking straw.

I can’t wait to begin my second career as a champion ultimate robot fighter. My twelve-foot combat bot, Mortimer, and I will make the rounds on the talk show circuit and engage in friendly sparring matches with the hosts. Fame and fortune will be mine until that fateful day when Mortimer punches a hole straight through an elderly Conan O’Brien’s chest cavity because I’m high on designer drugs.

Here’s video of the robotic arm in action:

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