Medical and Hospital News
SPACE MEDICINE
High tech glove stymies Parkinson's disease tremors
High tech glove stymies Parkinson's disease tremors
By Glenn CHAPMAN
Las Vegas (AFP) Jan 10, 2024

Roberta Wilson-Garrett looked at the glove keeping her right hand steady and smiled.

At bay for the moment were tremors caused by Parkinson's disease affecting her muscle control.

She could do things others take for granted, like write crisply with a pen or hold a cup of coffee without spilling.

The reprieve shared by the Canadian woman at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas came thanks to a GyroGlove.

"It's a life changer for me," said Wilson-Garrett, describing how GyroGlove stopped tremors that make seemingly simple tasks like getting dressed a challenge.

GyroGear has built the world's most advanced hand stabilizer, with strategic partners that include Chinese technology group Foxconn, according to founder Dr. Faii Ong.

The key to GyroGlove is an attached gyroscope about the size of a hockey puck but with a disk inside that spins faster than a jet engine turbine, according to Ong.

"That glove is made in the same factory that makes your MacBook Pros," Ong said, referring to Foxconn being a supplier for Silicon Valley superstar Apple.

The plan is to miniaturize the gyroscope with future iterations of the glove.

"We want to bring the focus away from the disease and back onto the fact that this is human life we are talking about," Ong said.

"That is what tech should do; it's more important to focus back on ourselves as people and to understand how we can actually make people's lives better."

- Gadget guide dog -

Massachusetts-based GyroGear was one of an array of companies at CES seeking to use tech to improve life for people with infirmities or disabilities

Startups like Glidance and stalwarts like Amazon were among companies packed into a section of the Venetian hotel and casino displaying technology meant to improve life for people with disabilities.

Glidance founder Amos Miller, who lost his vision early in life, demonstrated a compact, two-wheeled device that acts as a guide dog of sorts for walkers who can't see.

Glide can be given a destination and lead the way for someone holding its handle, or be easily pushed along sensing obstacles and steering users along safe routes.

"You simply walk, and the wheels will steer," Miller told AFP as he demonstrated the device.

"I can tell it where to go if I want, but it will resist me bumping into anything."

The Seattle-based startup plans to launch a beta program for Glide later this year and make it as easy to afford as a smartphone.

Another Seattle startup called OneCourt has created what looks like a toy sized replica of an American football field which converts real-time updates from a sports match into vibrations.

Visually impaired sports fans can place a hand on the faux field to feel action playing out in a game.

The device can work with a gamut of sports including tennis, hockey, and American football.

"We're excited to be making live sports more accessible to people with visual disabilities," said OneCourt chief executive Jerred Mace.

"Basically, trying to get people closer to the action."

Vibrations on the device provide a sense of factors such as how fast a ball or puck is moving, where players are on a field and how they are maneuvering.

Mace hopes the yet-to-be released device will be made available through partnerships with teams or leagues, free for use by visually impaired fans at games.

Innovations on display at CES included technology-packed glasses for the blind from Lumen that let wearers know where it is safe to walk, even avoiding puddles.

There were glasses with frames that doubled as hearing aids as well as eyewear to offset visual impairments or even dyslexia.

Offerings from Israel-based Orcam included handheld scanners that read and even translate text for students with learning disabilities or young immigrants just learning English.

"Accessibility is the best use of technology," said Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart.

Related Links
Space Medicine Technology and Systems

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
SPACE MEDICINE
Bolivia's hypergravity blood cell test for astronaut health
Paris (ESA) Dec 21, 2023
The latest international group to employ ESA's hypergravity-generating Large Diameter Centrifuge is an all-female team from Bolivia, with access sponsored by the United Nations and ESA. The researchers are investigating whether the high gravity levels experienced during rocket launches might contribute to the anemia afflicting many astronauts in space. Based at ESA's ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands, the LDC is an 8 m-diameter four-arm centrifuge that gives researchers access to a range o ... read more

SPACE MEDICINE
Streets all but empty in Ecuador as gang attacks sow terror

Israeli arts school battles for normality in wartime

Japanese villages wait for help after quake

Ruin and rescue dogs in quake-ravaged Wajima

SPACE MEDICINE
GMV reinforces satellite expertise with new Galileo Operations Center in Madrid

Airbus presents first flight model structure for Galileo Second Generation

Galileo Gen2 satellite production commences at Airbus facility

Galileo Second Generation satellite aces first hardware tests

SPACE MEDICINE
Ancient cities provide insights for urban planning in the Anthropocene

Orbitally-induced strong monsoons facilitated early human dispersal to East Asia

Primordial primate ancestors likely lived in pairs, contradicting Solitary Theory

Late apes: Biggest primate ever died off due to 'huge mistake'

SPACE MEDICINE
Hundreds of swans found dead in Kazakh nature reserve

Australian police bust native reptile smuggling ring

Africa's large birds of prey facing 'extinction crisis': study

Researchers find reindeer sleep while chewing their cud

SPACE MEDICINE
Chinese laud 'great' Gao Yaojie, dissident doctor and AIDS whistleblower

Cholera claims 23 lives in Ethiopia: charity

Climate change could upturn world malaria fight: WHO

Suffering from flu, Pope Francis cancels COP28 trip

SPACE MEDICINE
China to pile on pressure after rebuke from Taiwan's voters

Taiwan poll candidate Hou vows not to 'sell out' to China

Hong Kong man jailed over 'seditious' shirt

China's Xi vows intensified crackdown on corruption

SPACE MEDICINE
'They aroused our ire': Ecuador vows to crush gangs

India navy rescues Arabian Sea crew after hijack attempt

Jordan strikes targeting Syria drug smugglers kill five: monitor

Senegal navy seizes cocaine worth at least $210 mn

SPACE MEDICINE
Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.