The invention of the touchscreen was hailed as a bold new step in technology. After all, we were no longer tethered to a keyboard in order to use our favorite pieces of a software. In a word, the tech got us “closer” to our gadgets than ever before. Still, this luxury wasn’t afforded to everybody. The disabled have gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to touchscreen-enabled devices. Often times, these people cannot move their fingers to swipe, poke or do anything else to the screen that is needed to get stuff to run properly.
A duo of researchers at Georgia Tech has tackled this problem head on and come up with a rather novel solution. It’s called Access4Kids and it is a sleeve that connects wirelessly to a tablet and allows a child that doesn’t have full access to their hands the chance to operate a touchscreen-enabled device. The sleeve uses a force-resistant three pad system that translates a child’s physical movements into distinct gestures usually associated with the finger manipulation of touchscreen devices. The design makes it perfect for sufferers of muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and other neurological disorders. This is welcome news, indeed.
The duo has no plans to make the tech available commercially, leaving that task up to someone else. They just want to perfect the device by making it safe and efficient and then let someone else bring it to market. In the meantime you can check out a video of the sleeve in action below.
