More gadgetry that wasn’t created as adaptive tech, but could be used to extend accessibility for motor-impairments. I think we’ve seen this idea in the movies; these prototype gloves look promising: “A pair of lycra gloves — with 20 irregularly shaped patches in 10 different colors — held in front of a webcam can generate … Continue reading »
Monthly Archives: May 2010
the crutch pocket
This pocket from Crutch Buddies makes crutch use much more manageable. And it comes in so many colors! via Cool Tools. Continue reading »
Adaptation, Part I: How the Eames chair came from leg splints, and why "disability studies" isn’t just identity politics
In 1941, the husband-and-wife design team, Charles and Ray Eames, were commissioned by the US Navy to design a lightweight splint for wounded soldiers to get them out of the field more securely. Metal splints of that period weren’t secure enough to hold the leg still, causing unnecessary death from gangrene or shock, blood loss, … Continue reading »
not Luddite but ludic
Svetlana Boym’s Off-Modern Manifesto describes her interest in “broken-tech art”—and this is very much at the heart of my collaborative work on sensory substitution with Brian Glenney: “Technology, we are told, is wholly trustworthy, were it not for the human factor. We seem to have gone full circle: to be human means to err. Yet, … Continue reading »
physical touchscreen knobs
dsLabs is working on creating a richer experience with touchscreens, by adding physical-tool interfaces. These additions would make iPhones and iPads (and who knows what else?) significantly more accessible too: Physical Touchscreen Knob from adam kumpf on Vimeo. Continue reading »
Adaptation, Part II: hearing aid jewelry, chairs that give hugs, and the art of changing the question.
In Part I of this series, I wrote about the still-new territory that is true adaptive design. As shown in the case of the Eames chairs, we’ve only begun to explore the aesthetic-and-engineering innovations that may shift our cultural ideas about ability and disability, independence and dependence, normalcy and variation. Let me point to some … Continue reading »
