The Assistive Technology Blog

Me, too!

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We were cleaning out our video library last month and found ourselves discarding many old VCR tapes. We didn't feel so bad trashing the 10 year old videotapes of ourselves leading a workshop but we did feel bad about trashing the old plastic cases that held the video tapes. Oh what to do with them??? What do you think? Clever idea!

Posted by Mona at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I saw this on the Today's show and thought it might have potential for accessibility for the iPad. Discovery Bay Games has created a joystick holder for the iPad so that players can use the classic Atari games like Centipede and Missile Command. I wonder if you can use this joystick in other ways too, and if not someone needs to invent this adapter to be more universal. For those engineers out there here is the link to get your started...
http://www.discoverybaygames.com/appcessories/atari-arcade-duo-powered-joystick

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OK, so we're all hugely interested in robotics. But what's new in the robot world? Check out this article for the latest in supports for people with physical mobility challenges. The authors share "recent work in assistive technology to improve mobility for persons with a disability, drawing on examples observed during a tour of academic and industrial research sites in Europe. The underlying theme of this recent work is a more seamless integration of the capabilities of the user and the assistive technology. This improved integration spans diverse technologies, including powered wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, functional electrical stimulation, and wearable exoskeletons. Improved integration is being accomplished in three ways: 1) improving the assistive technology mechanics; 2) improving the user-technology physical interface; and 3) sharing of control between the user and the technology."

Happy reading!

Cowan, R. Fregly, B. Boninger M., Chan, L. Rodgers, M. & Rienkensmeyer, D. (2012) Recent trends in assistive technology for mobility. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 9(20). In publication, available now at http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/pdf/1743-0003-9-20.pdf

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Let's get those low tech devices off the shelf! Watch as two practitioners share ideas for using an iTalk2 communication aid!

iTalk.mpg

Posted by Sharon Jones at 10:30 PM | Permalink

Brian S. Friedlander at Assistivetek (http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2012/03/boogie-board-rip-fun-doodling-gadget.html) has an answer. The Boogie Board LCD Writing tablet (http://www.improvelectronics.com/us/en/
) is a digital drawing support.

Brian notes, "As a child, one of my favorite toys was an Etch a Sketch. I could spend endless hours creating wonderful masterpieces on it by turning the two white dials. In some ways the Boogie Board Rip LCD Writing Tablet reminds me of the Etch a Sketch. The Boogie Board Rip is similar in many respects to the original Boogie Board that I reviewed last year, but adds the one important feature of being able to save your drawings and transfer them to your computer..." Click on the first link above to read more.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)