Assistive Technology Monthly Newsletter

MIT Scientists Learn How To Control Muscles With Light

MIT researchers have developed a new approach that they hope could someday offer better muscle control with less fatigue. Instead of using electricity to stimulate muscles, they used light. In a study in mice, the researchers showed that this optogenetic technique offers more precise muscle control, along with a dramatic decrease in fatigue. Continue reading

Woman's AI Bionic Arm Is Fitted After Tube Near-Death Experience

A woman has had an AI bionic arm fitted nine months after receiving life-changing injuries at a Tube station.

Sarah de Lagarde was run over by two London Underground trains at High Barnet Station in September 2022, with her arm and leg needing to be amputated.

She said the bionic arm that was fitted at a specialist prosthetic clinic in Amersham was "giving me the freedom back to do these tasks that are so innate to us". Continue reading

New Software Enables Blind and Low-Vision Users To Create Interactive, Accessible Charts

Screen-reader users can upload a dataset and create customized data representations that combine visualization, textual description, and sonification.

A team of researchers from MIT and University College London (UCL) created a software system called Umwelt (which means “environment” in German) that can enable blind and low-vision users to build customized, multimodal data representations without needing an initial visual chart. Umwelt incorporates an editor that allows someone to upload a dataset and create a customized representation, such as a scatterplot, that can include three modalities: visualization, textual description, and sonification. Sonification involves converting data into nonspeech audio. Continue reading

Smart Home Shows How Tech Can Help Disabled People

A old caretaker's house has been turned into a smart home showcasing assistive technology.

The property on Leechmere Industrial Estate in Sunderland demonstrates technology aimed at improving the lives of people with disabilities.

Most of the technology in the smart home is based on existing high street technology and includes Alexa-driven gadgets.

The house will be used by occupational therapists and technologists as a place to try out new ideas and train teams on how to use assistive technology. Continue reading

National Star College Students To Gain Independence Using AI Technology

A new ￡6.2m residential building equipped with the latest technology is due to open at a college for students with disabilities.

The accommodation at National Star College will act as a "smart house" and includes voice-activated technology.

It will allow students to adapt artificial intelligence (AI) to suit their personal needs.

"We're trying to give the students the opportunity to explore this technology in a safe environment at college," said Maizie Morgan, assistive technology technician at National Star College.

"The idea is that prospective and current students are able to use this technology, see what's out there in the world, and eventually, hopefully implement it into their own rooms and then transition from college," she added. Continue reading

The Microchip Implants That Let You Pay With Your Hand

A microchip was first implanted into a human back in 1998, but it is only during the past decade that the technology has been available commercially.

And when it comes to implantable payment chips, British-Polish firm, Walletmor, says that last year it became the first company to offer them for sale.

Walletmor's chip, which weighs less than a gram and is little bigger than a grain of rice, is comprised of a tiny microchip and an antenna encased in a biopolymer - a naturally sourced material, similar to plastic. "It can be used wherever contactless payments are accepted." Continue reading