Tech & Tools - All Comments

re: Handhelds for Visually Impaired

RedSox — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:19:48 GMT

It's a great tool. However the article leads you to believe it will read everything. It won't read handwriting, or really obscure fonts. Newspapers will be tough because of layout issues, but it does great with books and magazines.

If price is an issue, and you already have a relatively new windows computer and scanner, look into any of the text to speech programs. Will be about 1/3 of the price. (Kurzweil or Dolphin)

This won't be as portable, but will work just as well if not better.

re: New Phone Techology Making a Difference for Those with Disabilities

hoyasaxa — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:02:17 GMT

I just heard about Verizon's Center for Customers with Disabilities (VCCD). 1 800 974-6006 (voice/TTY)

They may be able to help answer your questions about the devices and direct you where to buy.

Good luck!

Dave

re: I'll bet you Want an iBOT(r)

Sleepless — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:48:16 GMT

cwak23 I would recommend that if you are interested in getting the iBot that you go to http://www.ibotnow.com and look through the whole website and then contact them and see how you can go about purchasing an iBot.

Good luck.

John

re: RIC Develops Bionic Arm

Daniel502 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:23:17 GMT

I just wrote a blog on this same topic!

www.disaboom.com/.../prosthesis-of-the-future.aspx

re: RIC Develops Bionic Arm

deborahe — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 09:40:55 GMT

I have been an amputee since the age of 20. I am now 43. It is quite surprising to me that with all the "awareness" topics for raising money for research that someone has not jumped on this topic. I for one being innocent in those days actually mentioned to the Colonel who was my surgeon (I was in the service, Air Force)that I would be a willing candidate for any bionic research. Prosthetics were not for me as my first experience was tripping down a flight of stairs at a mistep which could have resulted in some very severe injuries. I use crutches and walk very graceful so most times when people meet me they do not notice the disability. With so many people afflicted with these issues due to accidents or health issues you think they would have found a better solution than strapping on a prosthetic. Since I don't use one I find additional issues have arisen such as hip and back pain. I say we start working on this cause to help ourselves. Deborah E.

re: Choosing the Right Wheels

flynn — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:10:37 GMT

I just happened across this website today, and WOW, I've been blown away! What a great site. I also noticed this article and could not help but provide a comment. I am a researcher at USC and work closely with the owners of Precision Rehabilitation in Long Beach. I have never met such a fine group of clinicians. If you are in need of a professional wheelchair evaluation, and you live in the Southern California Area, I recommend Precision Rehabilitation (precisionrehabilitation.com). Both of the owners, Christy Malonzo and Manjiri Dadhul are certified w/c seating experts and work closely with a team of very experienced practicioners. If you wish to give them a call for an appointment, the number is 562-988-3570, they would be happy to help you find the very best w/c for your needs. All the best to you!

re: Handhelds for Visually Impaired

karigansgreatgran — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 14:02:02 GMT

I would love to have one however, we are on now a very tight budget and now that my husband has been diagnoised with on set alzheimers it would be impossible for me to afford one, I am interested, in just how much of this can be funded. I have RP and have been whirled into a heck of a mess. with no help from my children or family it is not looking great/

re: I'll bet you Want an iBOT(r)

cwak23 — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:11:30 GMT

i want one. im 24 and i have cmt. i also had my achilles tendons cut when i was 13. how do i get one?

re: Cell Phones, Smart Phones, and You

sleepwalker — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:10:38 GMT

So, where can I purchase one? My husband is legally blind and is having a devil-of-a-time using a cellphone, which he needs in order to access Mobility services in our area.

Accessible Video Games – Part 1, the Pioneers

Tech & Tools — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:43:56 GMT

You may be familiar with video game names such as Slots Lounge, SpongeBob Collapse, Star Defender 4,

re: RIC Develops Bionic Arm

pkmirish — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:33:00 GMT

My daughter was born with a below elbow malformation of her left arm (she is missing part of the arm and has no left hand). As an infant, she was fitted with a mechanical prosthetic and as an adult, she has an Otto Bock myoelectric arm.

For the last twenty-seven years, I have been following the research on prosthetics in the hope that advancements would be made to improve prosthetics and make them more like the actual human body parts they are meant to replace. As an unfortunate result of wars that cause many young people to end up needing prosthetics, research has gradually moved along. There are now several advancements that seem to be close to becoming reality (there are some advanced prosthetics out there already, but they are not widely available to everyone who needs one yet and they are quite expensive).

My daughter’s arm is the typical pincer-grip myoelectric (These are the arms that are most commonly used by amputees at this stage.): www.ottobock.com/.../3633.html

Otto Bock also has prosthetics that offer separate control of hand and elbow (my daughter doesn’t need that, as she has her elbow–I believe her prosthetic only has one motor, and I have read that many now have three motors).

There are many companies working now to improve prosthetics. Some of what is on the horizon is very advanced (with individual finger movement, sensory capability so that the user has a tactile sense of feeling what they are touching, and improvements in weight and appearance of the prosthetic).

Here are the latest items I’ve read, that should give you an idea of what will soon hopefully be available (the first one is already commercially available):

The article below is about arm prosthetics in general

www.amputee-coalition.org/.../firststepv2_s2a11.html

i-LIMB (your sister can get one of these for a mere $18,000)

www.touchbionics.com/professionals.php

crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9746827-1.html

The Southampton Remedi-Hand

news.bbc.co.uk/.../4225896.stm

www.technovelgy.com/.../Science-Fiction-News.asp

www.boingboing.net/.../lifelike-artificial-.html

hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl

DARPA arm

www.jhuapl.edu/.../070426.asp

www.neurotechreports.com/.../darpaprosthetics.html

SmartHand

www-arts.sssup.it/.../index.htm

DOD Smart Prosthetic Hand

campustechnology.com/.../50523

ADAH (Astronaut Dextrous Artificial Hand

robotics.estec.esa.int/.../astra2002_2.7b-3.pdf

Manus Hand

www.springerlink.com/.../k84895p85l655l37

Gifu Hand II

ieeexplore.ieee.org/.../login.jsp

The site below discusses many different cutting-edge prosthetic hands in development (Shadow Hand, Utah/MIT Hand, Stanford/JPL Hand, Sheffield Hand with “elumotion,” Orebro University Hand, i-LIMB Hand with Touch Bionics, Honda Hand, Anybots Monty Hand, and the Zurich/Tokyo Hand. As you will have noticed, many prestigious universities are now collaborating with various organizations to develop better prosthetics (it’s about time...)

www.davidbuckley.net/.../HandResearch.htm

This journal article is supposed to sort out all of the confusion surrounding the design of robotic prosthetic hands (I haven’t read the full article, just the abstract)

journals.cambridge.org/.../displayAbstract

I wish your sister the best in finding a solution to meet her needs and I am very sorry she had to suffer such a loss. I know that it will be harder for her than it was for my daughter, who was born without her hand, but please tell her not to be too discouraged, as things will get better.

re: RIC Develops Bionic Arm

pkmirish — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:31:19 GMT

My daughter’s arm is the typical pincer-grip myoelectric (These are the arms that are most commonly used by amputees at this stage.): www.ottobock.com/.../3633.html

Here are the latest items I’ve read, that should give you an idea of what will soon hopefully be available (the first one is already commercially available):

The article below is about arm prosthetics in general

www.amputee-coalition.org/.../firststepv2_s2a11.html

i-LIMB (your sister can get one of these for a mere $18,000)

www.touchbionics.com/professionals.php

crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9746827-1.html

The Southampton Remedi-Hand

news.bbc.co.uk/.../4225896.stm

www.technovelgy.com/.../Science-Fiction-News.asp

www.boingboing.net/.../lifelike-artificial-.html

hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl

DARPA arm

www.jhuapl.edu/.../070426.asp

www.neurotechreports.com/.../darpaprosthetics.html

SmartHand

www-arts.sssup.it/.../index.htm

DOD Smart Prosthetic Hand

campustechnology.com/.../50523

ADAH (Astronaut Dextrous Artificial Hand

robotics.estec.esa.int/.../astra2002_2.7b-3.pdf

Manus Hand

www.springerlink.com/.../k84895p85l655l37

Gifu Hand II

ieeexplore.ieee.org/.../login.jsp

www.davidbuckley.net/.../HandResearch.htm

This journal article is supposed to sort out all of the confusion surrounding the design of robotic prosthetic hands (I haven’t read the full article, just the abstract)

journals.cambridge.org/.../displayAbstract

re: RIC Develops Bionic Arm

byeillegalaliens — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:05:52 GMT

Why has there not been any comments about this technology? My sister has lost her arm to an illegal alien drinking and driving and wrecking into a car she was a passenger in. He has no insurance, stolen licence plate and ran from the scene but was found by the police 2 days later. She will not get the kind of help the majority of people in the USA will get. She does not deserve this! We don't know what to do. We need all the information we can possibly get if anyone can help. If you can help, please reply and I will check back now and then to this article. Thanks in advance.

re: Introduction to Assistive Techology

HandiMan Al — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:00:27 GMT

This article seems to focus primarily on speech and hearing disabilities, whereas the headline suggests a much broader scope.