5 Inventions of Advanced Technology for the Disabled

As people who, thank God, have been given perfection, we should think for a moment.

How does it feel not to be able to enjoy the view of green mountains, blue beaches, and colorful life for the rest of your life? How does it feel to spend a lifetime not being able to hear the birds chirping, the wind rushing, the waves crashing, and the majesty of nature? How does it feel to spend a lifetime not being able to see the beautiful face of the person we love and care about?

How does it feel not to be able to hear the words “I love you” for a lifetime?

How does it feel not to answer these words with “I love you too” for the rest of your life?

Humans are made differently. Some are perfect and some are lacking. Those who are perfect should be grateful to the Creator for receiving physical and spiritual completeness.

Even those who are less than perfect should be thankful to the Creator, as today’s technological advances have created different types of devices that can help overcome limitations.

Technology is created, developed, and used to make human life easier. The application of technology should be developed for people gifted with physical and mental perfection and to facilitate the lives of those in need.

The development of technology today requires creative and innovative mindsets from young people. No kidding, they develop advanced technology for people with disabilities that support their lives.

Based on Law No. 8 of 2016, the term “disabled” or “persons with disabilities” means anyone who experiences physical, intellectual, spiritual, and/or sensory limitations over a long time, such that it can be disabled and difficult on the basis full and effective participation in the rights of equality with other citizens.

A person with a disability faces obstacles in carrying out their daily activities. Some cannot hear, cannot see, cannot speak perfectly, and so on.

This inspires young people with disabilities to enjoy their lives. Therefore, many advanced technological innovations have been developed for disabled people to make their lives easier. Let’s take a look at 5 amazing inventions designed specifically for people with disabilities!

1. Electric car

Cars are one of the means of transportation that are widely used to meet the daily needs of many people. There are already modified cars as one of the advanced technologies for people with disabilities to drive cars like people in general.

It didn’t stop there, one of the advanced technologies for the disabled came from an electric car company called Kenguru Electric Car. This car aims to make driving easier for wheelchair users as it has a special design that supports all aspects of the driver’s needs. This car has a top speed of 25 km/h and is equipped with a battery that can last up to 8 hours.

However, this technology still has disadvantages, namely that drivers first have to switch from a wheelchair to a driver’s seat, which feels a bit difficult, especially when traveling alone.

2. Eyeborg

Neil Harbisson is someone who was born totally color blind, so he can only see white, gray, and black. However, Neil’s limitations do not become an obstacle for him but motivate him to develop sophisticated technology for people with disabilities who, like him, suffer from color blindness problems.

Since 2004, Neil has been experimenting to develop a sophisticated technology called “Eyeborg” that can recognize colors from sounds.

3. Robotic arm

Dean Kamen and his team received funding from DARPA, part of the US Department of Defense, to develop sophisticated technology that can help people with disabilities who don’t have hands, a robotic arm called DEKA.

This arm can be adjusted to the user’s needs and covers the entire hand and arm to the shoulder. This custom hand is equipped with many sensors designed to regulate feedback to the user. The sensor can also adjust the grip as instructed by the user. This tool is very useful for people with disabilities who don’t have arms due to various factors, so this advanced technology of DEKA arms can facilitate the work of people with disabilities.

4. BiOM Robotic Legs

Not only Dean Kamen who has the initiative and succeeded in creating a robotic arm. Hugh Herr, who lost both of his legs after an accident, innovated to create advanced technology for the disabled with no legs with a very simple goal, namely so that he could return to his hobby of rock climbing and so that other people with disabilities would not give up on life.

Hugh Herr himself developed a robotic prosthetic leg called BiOM using a material consisting of a combination of metal, wood, and rubber equipped with robotic sensors to replicate the leg muscles with a mechanical system that allows the user to walk like a real leg.

5. Ripple

Is an advanced technology that helps people with hearing impairments. Ripple is a unique speaker capable of producing sound by visualizing the resulting sounds in a tactile visual. Tactile here means that ripple speakers can change the strains of music into certain object movements that can be felt by touch. That is, by using ripple speakers, a deaf person can enjoy the sound of music or songs through touch and also through the sense of sight.

Advances in technology are very helpful for people with disabilities to ease the burden of their lives. Although it cannot replace the original organ, technology can be a driving force to make the world run well in the future without discrimination against people with disabilities.