Technology was created to make people’s lives easier. But are we aware that sometimes not all people can enjoy it? For example, people with disabilities have different abilities than other people. Therefore, several innovations have been created specifically to help them live. Here are 7 technological inventions for people with disabilities!
1. Cars for wheelchair users
This car is manufactured by the car company Kenguru. They sell electric cars that are lightweight and can be used by wheelchair users. Also, this company was built by Stacy Zoern, who is also a wheelchair user. Indirectly, this vehicle is a shell or shell for a wheelchair. This car has only one rear door, which is the entry point for wheelchairs and users.
The Kenguru EV was specially developed by a company called Rehab from Hungary and has been marketed both in America and across Europe since 2012. Stacy Zoern, CEO of Community Cars, the company behind Kenguru, said the idea helps people with disabilities move freely and gain independence.
The price of this mini car is $25,000. Kenguru rear-wheel drive, with a maximum speed of only 45 km/h. The range that can be covered with a fully charged battery is between 70 and 110 kilometers.
2. Assistive Express, an application to support the speech impaired
This application, available for iPhone and iPad, can help people with disabilities in verbal communication. They can type what they want to say to talk to other people. In addition, this application also has a voice function that reads the texts of the user to the interlocutor.
3. Eye Play Piano, a piano for quadriplegics
The piano can be played by pressing the keys. But this piano is different. Eye Play the Piano allows you to play the piano without using your hands. Users just need to attach the instrument to their heads and blink or move their heads to play the piano.
4. Look At Me, an application to help autistic people
Some people with autism have trouble making and maintaining eye contact, making it difficult for them to understand other people’s emotions. To solve this problem, Samsung and several professors, doctors, and designers in South Korea have created a series of games specifically designed to help children with autism. This app teaches them to make eye contact, read facial expressions and express their feelings.
For example, a game with the front camera was applied. Through the front camera, the child’s face is placed in a frame and then photographed. This game aims to improve facial recognition and spatial awareness in autistic children.
Another game asks children to identify happy and sad facial expressions through multiple choice. This game aims to help autistic children recognize different types of emotions.
5. Fonts that help dyslexics read
A designer named Christian Boer has created a typeface that could make reading easier for dyslexics like him. He devised a way to overcome his dyslexia by creating a font called Dyslexia. Dyslexia is a disorder that affects a person’s accuracy or understanding when reading letters or words. Dyslexia works by focusing on the appearance of certain letters of the alphabet that are generally difficult for dyslexics to distinguish, such as B. the letters “d” and “b”, and their identification facilitated. Boer published this font in English and it can be purchased online.
6. Be My Eyes, an app for the visually impaired
Be My Eyes is an Apple and Android-based application that connects blind people around the world with volunteers to help them see things in front of them. Even if things are seen as simple, they have a big impact on blind friends. One of the most common requests is to show the expiration date of foods like milk.
Be My Eyes carries the concept of social micro-volunteering, where volunteers can contribute in the way and time most convenient for them during their busy lives. This mobile application connects blind people with volunteers through a video call service available in the application. Both visually impaired and volunteers must register before using the Be My Eyes application service.
This app is a free app that helps visually impaired people record videos of objects and writings they want to see live. The video is then sent to the volunteers for description. As for the writing, the volunteers will read it.
7. Tools to help the deaf hear with their tongue
A group of researchers at Colorado State University have developed lat that can teach the tongue to “hear” sounds. They wanted to find a way to use the tongue’s nerves to read the electrical signals that represent sounds.
The way it works is not that different from a cochlear implant. In addition to the retainer, the researchers also developed a microphone equipped with an earphone to capture the other person’s voice. This sound is then converted into an electrical signal.
This electrical signal is then sent via Bluetooth to a holder attached to the tongue. A series of electrodes placed on the tongue are tasked with receiving these signals and then stimulating specific nerves on the tongue based on the “conversational content” contained in the electrical signal.
The innovations they create may not be widely known. However, the findings may even change the lives of users. So innovative!