Computers & Disabilities

Computers & Disabilities Richard Shepherd – Team 4

Computers & Disabilities • History of Topic • Impact on Today’s Society • Limitations of Assistive Technology • The Future of Assistive Technology • References

History of Topic • The wheelchair • Developed in China around 300 B.C. • Design hasn’t really changed

History of Topic • Historical figures who used a wheelchair • Confucius, F.D.R., Stephen Hawking, etc.

History of Topic • Prosthetic limbs • First recorded use in The Rig Veda • ~1000 B.C., myth of warrior queen Vishpala • Replaced lost leg with iron one • Egyptian soldiers followed suit • Some mummies have wooden appendages

History of Topic • Götz von Berlichingen • German mercenary, lost arm in battle • Was a Renaissance man, could engineer • Developed prosthetic arm in 1504

History of Topic • Götz von Berlichingen’s arm • Fully-articulated, uses springs/levers to move • Could hold a pen or swing a sword • User flexes muscles before the wound • A principal many prosthetics are built off of

History of Topic • Helen Keller • Deaf-blind, but learned to speak and write • Point of acceptance for disabled community • Became famous writer and lecturer • People with disabilities not shunned from workplace

History of Topic • Communication software • Text-to-speech helps the mute • Speech-to-text helps the deaf • Nuance pioneers this software today

Impact on Today’s Society • Medicine – before and after • Before • Alternative medicine couldn’t treat strange illnesses • Person 1: “I’ve got an alien in my bloodstream” • Person 2: “Buy this super expensive dream catcher!” Alien, not a bacteriophage One month’s paycheck

Impact on Today’s Society • Medicine – before and after (cont.) • After • Computer-aided microscopes discover new diseases • Can figure out how to combat viruses • Learn about and see structure of virus • Can deduce how to develop medicine

Impact on Today’s Society • Modern prosthetics – before and after • Before • Either aesthetic, if no joint left • Or like von Berlichingen’s arm – pretty functional

Impact on Today’s Society • Modern prosthetics – before and after (cont.) • After • Computerized arms • Some map the artificial limb to nerves • Can feel touch and cold/warmth

Impact on Today’s Society • Correcting blindness • Bionic eyeball • Earlier version is glasses-mounted camera • Electrodes in brain act like optical nerves • Now, in-eye microchips and artificial eyes • Same as older one, but no peripherals required

Impact on Today’s Society • Augmentative communication • Software available • Store common phrases • Map eye movements to keyboard • Electrodes can detect neurons triggered by thought • With calibration, people can think and move a cursor

Limitations of Assistive Technology • Assistive technology devices • Electronic equipment can be incredibly fragile • Can be incredibly expensive/ cost-prohibitive • One size doesn’t fit all

Limitations of Assistive Technology • Bionic eye • Expensive - $100,000+ • Limited amount of pixels displayed to user • Size constraint of microchip inside eye • Only at 98 pixels in Argus II

Limitations of Assistive Technology • Augmentative communication • Can’t find a way to truly read human thoughts • Yet • No universal solution otherwise • Different disabilities make communication difficult • What works for someone might not work for another

The Future of Assistive Technology • 3D-Printing & Human Tissue • Use individual atoms of various sorts • Could reconstruct any molecular structure • Could replace lost limbs or organs

The Future of Assistive Technology • Nanorobotics • Tiny robots, theoretically 0.1-10 nm large • Could enter bloodstream • Act like blood cell or antibody • Fight disease from within

The Future of Assistive Technology • Brain-computer Interface • Computer implanted in head • Would store memories or compute • Brown University is currently working on this

The Future of Assistive Technology • Genome mapping • Could see what genes lead to a disease • Nanobots could alter a person’s gene sequence • Controversial idea • UC Davis is currently working on this with cats

References • Ancona, N. and Poggio, T., "Optical flow from 1D correlation: Application to a simple time-to-crash detector," Fourth International Conference on Computer Vision, 1993, pp. 209-214. • Anthony, Sebastian. “Brown University creates first wireless, implanted brain-computer interface”. Extreme Tech, 4 Mar., 2013. <http://www.extremetech.com/ extreme/149879-brown-university-creates-first-wireless-implanted-brain-computer-interface>. Retrieved 29 Mar., 2014. • Goethe, J., W., Götz von Berlichingen: A Play, Illinois: Waveland, 1990. • Griffith, Ralph T.H. “The Hymns of the Rigveda”. 2nd ed. Tamil Nadu, India: Kotagiri, 1896. • Lee, Stephanie M. “Scientists set out to map whole genome of cats – 99 of them”. SFGate, 3 Feb., 2014. http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Scientists-set-out-to-map-whole-genome-of-cats-5198784.php. Retrieved 29 Mar., 2014. • New York University. "Chemists Create 'Nanorobotic' Arm To Operate Within DNA Sequence." ScienceDaily, 8 December 2006. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2006/12/061207161103.htm>. Retrieved 29 Mar., 2014. • S. Tasoglu, E. Diller, S. Guven, M. Sitti, U. Demirci. ”Untethered micro-robotic coding of three-dimensional material composition.”Nature Communications, 2014. • Keller, Helen. “The Story of My Life”. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905.

Computers & Disabilities