Hardware & Making
Handsfree assistive technology
My technology portfolio to enable work, life, smart home and travel using a power wheelchair
I am paralysed from the chest down, have no hand functions and sit in a power wheelchair. I will share some insights on spinal cord injury and my experiences of how I work, live and travel using a power wheelchair. There are millions of people who cannot control a computer, tablet, or smartphone with their hands. Assistive technology supports the main functionalities which are needed: mouse movement and different kinds of clicks. My portfolio of hands-free assistive technology enables me every day to be active without using my hands or feet. I’m going to present solutions which make my everyday life more comfortable.
One moment changed my life. I had a swimming accident in 2017, a big wave took me and I broke my neck.
I am paralysed from the chest down, have no hand functions and sit in a power wheelchair. I cannot cough up independently and rely on 24/7 help to live an active life.
In the first few months, I was not able to breathe, eat, drink, speak, walk etc. by myself. In the meanwhile, I made some significant progress and began to work independently using my computer and assistive technology. Step-by-step I came back to a new kind of life.
I love travelling and am fascinated by innovative technologies. I love my job in the IT industry and passionately work full-time for a startup company in Berlin.
I will share some insights on spinal cord injury and my experiences of how I work, live and travel using a power wheelchair. There are millions of people who cannot control a computer, tablet, or smartphone with their hands. Assistive technology supports the main functionalities which are needed: mouse movement and different kinds of clicking.
I'm really lucky to be part of the current generation. In the last couple of years, the major technology companies released significant updates in regards to voice recognition, universal design, accessibility and assistive technology.
My portfolio of hands-free assistive technology enables me every day to be active without using my hands or feet. I’m going to present Solutions which make my everyday life more comfortable
I will share my personal setup which includes software and hardware. You can assume that I tested all of these products, and I’m using them in my smart home.
Assistive technology is going to change the lives of many forever and is much more vital than ever before.
Here are a few examples which I'm going to present.
My remodelled VW Transporter which enabled me to be the co-driver
My Smart home setup for lights, doors, tables, couch, TV, curtains, temperature and kitchen with speech, voice control and apps
My power wheelchair and its individual configuration so I can drive using my chin or head
A robotic arm which allows to be a personal assistant to drink, smoke or scratch myself
My computer, smartphone and headphone setup includes a head movement mouse, voice and switch control for dictation and commanding as well as a Bluetooth module to control the smartphone with single button clicks
Last but not least, I love doing videos using my GoPro and I'm happy to share my perspective
Additional information
| Live Stream | https://streaming.media.ccc.de/37c3/zuse |
|---|---|
| Type | lecture |
| Language | English |
More sessions
| 12/27/23 |
After a brief introduction to digital circuits this talk will outline placement and routing algorithms used for creating digital integrated circuits.
|
| 12/27/23 |
This lecture will cover many aspect of designing a RISC-V CPU, out-of-order execution, multi-core, memory coherency, security and running linux and debian on a FPGA.
|
| 12/27/23 |
Ein Vortrag über den erfolgreichen Kinder-Audioplayer „Toniebox“ mit Content-Hosting in der Cloud, der nicht nur Einblicke in die (un-)heimliche Datensammlungspraxis bietet, sondern auch gleich passende Lösungen dazu. Custom-Firmware, selfhosted Cloud-Ersatz und Tools zum Erzeugen von Inhalten ohne Herstellercloud.
|
| 12/27/23 |
In an era where vendors increasingly seek to use proprietary software in the devices around us to exert control over their users, the desire for open source software has expanded to the firmware that allows our machines to function, and platforms which individuals can trust and control have never been more important. However, changes to hardware platforms in recent years such as the Intel ME, vendor-supplied binary blobs and vendor-signed firmware images have repeatedly set back efforts to ...
|
| 12/27/23 |
Embark on Libre Space Foundation's journey into the world of open-source space exploration, where a passionate community of hackers and makers is challenging the traditional defense-driven approach to spacefaring. Discover how we are democratizing space by embracing open-source technologies, community collaboration, and a commitment to sustainability.
|
| 12/27/23 |
The Unfolding Space Glove transmits the relative position and distance of nearby objects as vibratory stimuli to the back of the hand, enabling blind people to haptically explore the depth of their surroundings. The talk will give a brief overview of the design research project, from the first prototypes to an empirical study and its publication, and provide insights into the underlying hardware and software.
|
| 12/27/23 |
We've all been there: the trains you're servicing for a customer suddenly brick themselves and the manufacturer claims that's because you've interfered with a security system. This talk will tell the story of a series of Polish EMUs (Electric Multiple Unit) that all refused to move a few days after arriving at an “unauthorized” service company. We'll go over how a train control system actually works, how we reverse-engineered one and what sort of magical “security” systems we actually ...
|
