Re:Mouth-based touchpad enables people living with paralysis...
by eezing on Thursday June 13, 2024 @11:54PM
(#40677357)
I would think fewer moving parts is less complex. Considering it’s basically a trackpad, I doubt the hardware and software are bleeding edge.
Re:Mouth-based touchpad enables people living with paralysis...
by brudgers on Friday June 14, 2024 @02:07AM
(#40677974)
It’s a radio and computer that goes inside a person’s mouth. That person can’t use their hands. How do they take it out and put it in?
Tim had a red solo cup size container next to his keyboard — he also typed with the tool in his mouth. [1] When he wanted to talk to someone, he stuck the stick in the cup and stood the tool up where he could pick it up again.
[1] I hadn’t remembered that because it’s been 25 years. Tim could also out sketch most people with a pencil in his mouth as well. He had a bachelor in fine art before the motorcycle wreck.
Tim was a classmate. He was and remains paralyzed from the neck down. At the computer Tim manipulated a trackball with a tool — rod connected to a flat mouth piece.
This is different, but I am not sure it is better. The trackball and stick were mostly mechanical, reliable, and straightforward to repair.
No special software. No need to charge. Tim’s tools were as reliable as a mouse. Not much of a choking hazard because of the stick either.
I’m not saying the mouth-pad is a toaster fridge. Only that it has technical complexity rather than mechanical simplicity.