Assistive Technology
As I discovered, it’s just a lot harder to bring assistive technology to market than it is to build an Uber for sandwiches or an app that only says “Yo" - Kate Allen
image by: National Institutes of Health
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Great advances being made in assistive technology
Pizza delivery apps. Fitness trackers. Dashboard GPS. Often, technology makes life easier for people whose lives are already very easy. But what about next-generation wheelchairs or 3D-printed prosthetics?
In the field of assistive technology, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are also making life easier for people with disabilities, chipping away at truly big problems at steady pace. Their successes are likely to accelerate.
“I think we’re in the middle of a revolution in technology for people with impairments,” says David Reinkensmeyer, a biorobotics researcher at the University of California, Irvine. “This field, from when I started 15 years ago until now, has really…
Resources
Stephen Hawking as Accidental Ambassador for Assistive Technologies
The great explainer of the universe lived in a time when researchers rapidly developed technology to assist people with physical limitations in achieving increased independence.
The Exoskeleton's Hidden Burden
A growing number of companies are developing assistive technologies to help disabled people walk—but these devices can distract from infrastructure changes that would make cities more disability-friendly.
A Cane for the Blind that Senses Tall Obstacles
A class project to help the blind turned into a mission for Rohan Paul.
A Technological Godsend to Counter Hearing Loss
The ‘hearing loop’ is a remarkable advance, but all too hard to find in the U.S.
Google.org's Giving $20 Million to Engineer a Better World
Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, has been making a big global push this year to aid the one billion people around the world living with disabilities. To further that goal, it’s just awarded $20 million to the 30 nonprofits it believes could benefit most from its tech and data-driven approach to charitable giving. From open source electric wheelchairs to multi-lingual keyboards you can control with eye-tracking technology, the chosen projects focus on solutions for disabled people in five main categories: education, communication, mobility, independence, and employment.
How Assistive Technologies Enable People with Disabilities
The emergence of mobile “assistive” technologies, influenced heavily by the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 25 years ago, marks a major step forward for people with disabilities, unlocking unprecedented new possibilities for communication, navigation and independence.
The tech giving people power to deal with disability
Worldwide, around a billion people have a disability, says the World Health Organisation. In Europe and America, this is one in five people. And since they are less likely to be in work, their poverty rate is about twice as high. So technologies that could help disabled people contribute more in the workplace - and improve their quality of life - are surely welcome.
Great advances being made in assistive technology
As one researcher notes, “I think we’re in the middle of a revolution in technology for people with impairments.”
5 Mobile Technologies Help Level the Playing Field for People with Disabilities
The American’s with Disabilities Act has influenced development of smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets to help the disabled
Centre for Assistive Technolgy and Connected Healthcare
CATCH combines the expertise of three research groups at the University of Sheffield: Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Group (RAT Group), the Centre for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare (CATCH) and the Telehealth and Care Technologies theme of CLAHRC YH.
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