Disability

According to tests recently performed at the University of Manchester, two ancient Egyptian artificial big toes were likely used by their owners for walking, and not simply placed on their dead bodies for religious or ritualistic reasons. If so, it would make them the world's earliest-known prosthetic devices. The tests involved getting big-toeless volunteers to try walking while wearing replicas of the two toes ... and the toes were up to the task. Read More

Paraplegics may soon find it easier to exercise their leg muscles through activities such as cycling and rowing thanks to a tiny microchip implanted in the spinal canal. Dubbed the Active Book because of its booklike appearance, the microchip combines electrodes and a muscle stimulator in one unit the size of a child's fingernail. Read More

At a press conference held this morning in San Francisco, California’s Berkeley Bionics unveiled its eLEGS exoskeleton. The computer-controlled device is designed to be worn by paraplegics, providing the power and support to get them out of their wheelchairs, into a standing posture, and walking – albeit with the aid of crutches. The two formerly wheelchair-bound “test pilots” in attendance did indeed use eLEGS to walk across the stage, in a slow-but-steady gait similar to that of full-time crutch-users. Read More

Researchers have created a computer-controlled robotic arm designed to help wheelchair-bound people perform actions such as grasping and lifting objects. It has both an automatic mode, in which the computer identifies objects and figures out how to grasp them, and an option for full manual control. When physically-challenged people were selected to try the device out, the researchers were surprised to discover that most of them preferred going manual. It’s all about something called Flow. Read More

A few years ago, while searching for a suitable product to help his severely autistic son Callum adequately express himself, speaks4me creator Steven Lodge came up with the idea for a computer-based interactive communication tool based on a successful and popular autistic learning system, but the technology to support the idea was not readily available. That's now changed. Read More

Inspired by familiar flip-flop beach sandals and the graceful lines of an orca, designer Liu Yi has created an ergonomic mouse concept design for people with upper limb disability. As the name might suggest, the Toe Mouse is gripped by the big and second toe and moved around to guide the pointer. Sensors at each toe position determine click action. Read More

The award-winning French movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly brought to life the memoirs of Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby - the victim of a major stroke at the young age of 42, resulting in him suffering “locked in syndrome”, where the brain is active but the body is not. Bauby can only communicate by blinking one eye and, with the help of a patient speech theraprist, writes his memoirs. For other stroke victims or sufferers of brain injuries who have lost the ability to speak and write, communicating with the outside world can be frustrating. Guger Technologies, makers of intendiX, has created a home-based system where wearers of a special EEG cap can communicate via a computer with the special software installed. Read More

The GlideCycle offers a whole new world of mobility, independence and exercise to people of almost any age with disabilities and injuries. Looking a little like a bike, but with no pedals and a frame over the top of the body rather than underneath, the GlideCycle uses a suspended ergonomic saddle that holds the pelvis to support body weight so that the rider can walk, run or glide with no pressure on the crotch or perineum. It provides major cardio benefits with virtually zero impact, is easily mastered, comfortable and fun to use, quick to assemble – and it’s affordable. So what’s the catch? There isn’t one. Read More

"SENS", from Takumi Yoshida, is a mobile phone design catering for those with visual impairment including complete blindness. The phone assists visually impaired users through a special keypad design, real-time audio feedback and touch sensing technology. Read More