Mind-controlled wheelchair could make life a lot easier for power wheelchair users

Thought control wheelchair:  The 'Aviator' is a thought-controlled wheelchair developed in NSW, Hung Nguyen describes how it works. 

Thought-controlled wheelchair could make life a lot easier for power wheelchair users.

Life could soon get easier for those with a severe disability.

Researchers at the University of Technology, Sydney have developed technology to allow severely disabled people to move around more easily by using their minds to control their wheelchairs.
They hope to commercialise the project within three years.
At present, there are few ways for those who are severely disabled to move around in their wheelchairs. The two most common ways are the "chin stick" and "sip and puff" methods.

Both methods require physical movement. The chin stick method requires a user to operate a wheelchair using their chins, while the sip and puff method requires a user to blow air on to sensors to move around.

Both methods can become tiresome, which is why the dean of the faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at UTS, Professor Hung Nguyen, decided to work on a better solution.
Nguyen and his team at the Centre for Health Technologies have been working on a product that reads brainwaves using an electrode, which allows the user to command a wheelchair, telling it which way to go.

There are four commands: forward, left, right and stop.  To go forward, you simply need to think of a dice moving forward. If you want to go left, you compose a letter. If you want to go right, you think of solving a maths problem, and if you want to stop, you close your eyes.

Nguyen told this website that the thought-controlled wheelchair was for those "with severe disabilities [who] cannot use their hands, for example".  Over the years, he said, he has been working on "a few different technologies" to deal with those in wheelchairs with severe disabilities.  One technology involves wearing a baseball cap and moving your head the way you want to go.
Nguyen said the technology had been 15 years in the making.  "I started with the head movement [technology] first," he said. "I've been working with neuroscience for more than 10 years now - to understand how the brain works - and we've developed the electronics [to] interface with the wheelchair [so that it can] be made smaller and [still] decipher the information."

How it works
Nguyen said the thought-controlled wheelchair worked by looking at certain brainwaves and how they react to certain thoughts.  "But we don't look at that specifically," he said. "We look across the board at what is actually happening. We look at the spectrum and we decipher the information directly. At first we'll try to have one size fits all but we'll have in the device later on the ability to adapt it to what you think."

Cost
Nguyen said he was "not actually sure at the moment" how much it was actually going to cost.  "I hope it will be, it could be, maybe $1000 or $3000," he said. "It depends on the complexity, you know, what we want to have - the features with the device."  He said the technology was still in prototype and that his team was trying to get people to fund it.  "We're starting to have financial support and that sort of thing," he said.

Put to the test
Nguyen said the technology had still to be tested on severely disabled people, but that it had been tested on those without a disability.  "I only start with people without disabilities for now because we want to be careful," he said.  "I've been working with people at the .... rehab centre and so they are very aware of what we do and so once we're ready we will have a number of different studies involving people with severe disabilities but we just want to make sure that everything is working fine first."  He said his team would need about $1 million to get the project commercialised and that, so far, the project had received grants of more than $500,000.

The author of this post is on Twitter: @bengrubb

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/mindcontrolled-wheelchair-aims-to-make-life-easier-for-disabled-20101006-167ly.html#ixzz23hU7kyyQ

Tapping into technology helps seniors stay sharp | CTVNews

Tapping into technology helps seniors stay sharp | CTVNews

Avis Favaro, CTV News
Published Sunday, Jun. 24, 2012 9:40PM EDT
Last Updated Monday, Jun. 25, 2012 11:56AM EDT

Thanks again Mark Jasky for sending me the link to this report!
Seniors are crossing the digital divide and tapping into technology now more than ever, according to a new survey.
The Revera Report on Tech-Savvy Seniors shows that of the 27 per cent of seniors aged 75 and older who are online -- which is up from five per cent in 2000 -- more than half use social media to connect with family and friends.
The report also showed that one-in-five seniors use Skype or Facetime to chat with loved ones.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/tapping-into-technology-helps-seniors-stay-sharp-1.851670#ixzz1z3za6PQ4

Video game helps students with fetal alcohol disorder

This is an interesting story by Manisha Krishnan of the Edmonton Journal -

Playing video games isn’t often seen as the healthiest pastime for young people, but a new educational game is helping retrain the brains of students with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a University of Alberta professor says.

Jacqueline Pei, a registered psychologist who specializes in FASD, is researching how a computer program called Caribbean Quest is improving the cognitive function of people with the condition.

About 33,000 Albertans have FASD, says the Institute of Health Economics. The condition is caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.

People with FASD can struggle with a range of physical, mental and central nervous system disabilities, and face cognitive, behavioural and emotional issues. “We often see kids who have a very hard time sitting still. We see kids who have a hard time slowing down their responding, so they tend to leap before they look,” said Pei, adding that not understanding personal boundaries is another common problem. “They can also be very emotional because they will become quickly angered and not be good at controlling that.”

Pei and a team of doctors from the University of Alberta and University of Victoria — where Caribbean Quest was developed — are working on a study called Executive Functioning Training in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Twenty-five kids, aged 6-14, are involved, with each spending 12 weeks playing the game. By completing simple tasks such as capturing fruit in a specific order, students learn to understand instructions, slow their response times and retain information more accurately. Some have done better on math tests. MRI scans taken from study participants showed changes in the white matter of the brain — evidence that the exercises are having an effect.

A key factor in the students’ success is having an “interventionist,” or coach, alongside while they’re playing. “We’re seeing what strategies they’re using to make it through the game and helping them try different strategies to make things work,” said Marnie Hutchison, an interventionist and PhD student at the University of Alberta. One of the children she worked with, a little boy, started out having outbursts of frustration whenever he encountered an exercise he deemed too challenging. But by the end of his sessions, there was a noticeable difference, said Hutchison. “When he came across some difficulty he would set the controller to the side, take a deep breath and then he’d just kind of attempt the task again.”

Pei said research is in its early stages. She could not say with certainty that playing the game would help every FASD child. She is working on a website that will be a resource for teachers and on a game that they can use to help them understand how to relate to kids with the disorder. For the past three years, the Edmonton public school board has been rolling out the Wellness, Resilience and Partnership Project in Northern and Central Alberta. The program places coaches into junior and senior high schools to help students with FASD. Twenty-one schools were included in the 2011-12 school year.

The results have been very positive so far, says Sandra Swaffield, supervisor of inclusive learning and outreach for the school board. Eighty-four per cent of participating students successfully completed their core courses, she said. “One of the key things we looked at was to break down tasks into smaller activities for them so it wasn’t as overwhelming for kids.” Overall engagement in community events was also up and suspensions and expulsions were greatly reduced, added Swaffield. 

Mark Jansky alerted me to this story via Twitter! Thanks Mark ;)

Mind control: paralysed woman moves robot

A quadriplegic woman uses her mind to command a robotic arm to bring a bottle to her mouth. Vision and narration courtesy Nature.

http://media.theage.com.au/selections/mind-control-paralysed-woman-moves-robot-3302188.html

Compude: Your computer on your keychain.

Compude: Your computer on your keychain.
Compude is a device that fits on your keychain and allows you to have your personal or office PC anywhere you go. By plugging your Compude device into ANY smart phone, tablet or computer, it becomes the PC you have at home or the office. It is “your computer” through any device, anytime, anywhere making whatever device it is plugged into look and operate like your computer. All information is stored securely in the cloud for a low monthly fee. For apple products, it will be an application that is downloaded from the App Store and an adapter for plugging in to MicroUSB or the 30 pin plug. From what I can tell, the difference between this device and standard cloud computing is that the security is higher with this company. All other features appear to be the same as using Dropbox. I'm sure it's better than that!

Enhancing digital literacy: A role for occupational therapy

This post is one of several that I will post in the coming weeks where I will write about the concept of the digital literacy and discuss why I think occupational therapists have a critical role to play in increasing digital literacy in society.  I would like to acknowledge the work of 4 of my wonderful former students in the research of many of these concepts ~ Thanks Nicole Anstey, Erika Bannert, Judy Lin and Sarah Langenhoff. 

Digital Literacy

Digital literacy is defined as having the ability to access and use information and communication technologies (such as internet connected computers and smartphones) that facilitate the individual's ability to seek information, develop community networks, accumulate social capital, or participate in political activities (Hargittai, 2003).   Digital literacy in the mainstream population continues to grow as high-speed access or wireless access increases, however, for individuals and groups living with impairments caused by physical, cognitive or social limitations the ability to access the internet can be difficult or impossible, thus reducing their capacity to network, find information and be information-literate (Fox, 2011).

 

Digital Divide

The Digital Divide is defined as “any inequalities between groups, broadly construed, in terms of access to, use of, or knowledge of information and communication technologies” (Wikipedia, 2012).  Schmitz (2008) found that because the Internet and computing technology are continually presenting new barriers to being able to access information and remain socially connected, and also found that this is particularly concerning for persons with physical, cognitive and social limitations.

Chen & Wellman (2003) found that the digital divide has a profound impact on the experience of social inequality as people who are on the wrong side of the digital divide can be excluded from the knowledge economy.  If pre-existing inequalities deter people from using computers and the Internet, these inequalities may increase as the Internet becomes more consequential for getting jobs, seeking information, and engaging in civic and entrepreneurial activities (Chen & Wellman, 2003).

 

Occupational therapy and ICTs

Verdonck & Ryan found that computers have become integral to completing many activities of daily living in the areas of productivity, self-care and leisure (2008), and it is now common for people to complete tasks such as shopping, bill-paying, watching movies and socializing with friends online.  Up until recently, however, facilitating access to computer technology for helping overcome difficulties with communication, memory, problem solving, dexterity, and mobility, in order to participate in activities of daily living, has been viewed as a specialist area in occupational therapy.

Usually, persons needing support with computer devices were referred to a service where professionals with specialized skills and knowledge would work as consultants to assess and provide technology and training to the individual client and their caregivers.  Due to the highly specialized nature of these services people with perceived low-level needs were rarely seen by an occupational therapist for this purpose and using computer technology was largely overlooked in these types of occupational therapy assessment protocols.

 

Occupational therapists overcoming the digital divide

Computer technology is used in occupational therapy practice in areas such as with children and adults who have difficulties with handwriting or communication, to encourage social and active participation, and for improving memory (Bainbridge, Bevans, Keely, & Oriel, 2011; Handley-More, Deitz, Billingsley, & Coggins, 2003; Lundqvist, Grundstrom, Samuelsson, & Ronnberg, 2010).  However, perhaps not all occupational therapists are comfortable incorporating digital technology into practice.  In a study of computer-use with older adults, 63% of the occupational therapist respondents reported that they are undecided or are uninterested in exploring computer-use with their clients (Ackerman et al., 2001).  Occupational therapists that address and encourage computer-use for their clients are typically those early adopters, who, themselves, are comfortable with the use of technology.

Using a computer is now an activity of daily living, therefore it is time for occupational therapists to embrace the use of ICTs for access to and understanding information, for completion of ADL tasks such as bill-paying and even for creating and maintaining social networks.  This should now be part of any generalist occupational therapy service, not just in specialized service areas. 

 

How to integrate digital technology into occupational therapy

There  are four key stakeholders in the transition to overcoming the digital divide; occupational therapy educators, occupational therapy students, occupational therapy practitioners and occupational therapy consumers.  Each of the stakeholders has a role to play, and each works within a context.

The contexts that we need to be aware of in overcoming the digital divide include (these can each be real or virtual):

• Local (where you live and work)
• Part of the profile of a local community includes local special interest groups  
• Regional (groups of similar communities in a geographically similar area who can connect and share resources and skills)
• Part of the profile of a Regional community is a Regional OT Association 
• National (groups of communities within a country who can connect and share resources and skills)
• Part of the profile of a National community is a National OT Association
• Global (groups of similar communities across the globe who can connect and share resources and skills)
• Part of the profile of a community is WFOT.  
• Is it timely for WFOT to develop a position statement on occupational therapy's role in overcoming the digital divide?

Technology to work towards improving hand washing in hospitals

Today on CBC radio I heard this interview and was so impressed by the research and method I wanted to share it with others interested in talking about how technogy is improving healthcare. Here's what is on the CBC radio site:

There’s a new tool for tracking the spread of infections and diseases in hospitals. Developed by the Canadian company Infonaut in collaboration with George Brown College, this tool tracks the movements of health care workers in hospitals, including if they’ve washed their hands or not! Toronto General will be the first hospital in the world to use this technology. Dr. Michael Gardam is Director of Infection Prevention and Control at the University Health Network in Toronto, and he explains why the data collected will be invaluable, and how they’re ensuring this won’t be a “big brother” type surveillance situation.