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Technology helping people with disabilities

tech for people with disabilities

Technology has always enabled people with disabilities such as speech and vision impairment, motion disabilities or disorders. There are many apps now that can help people with a disability navigate the world on a day to day basis.

Apps can provide an alternative to reading for the vision impaired, allow the deaf to join conversations and help people who have shaky hands eat a meal themselves. One practical example is the pop socket – we think they are fun to use but for people with limited mobility it might be really useful!

Below we’ve listed some of the new technologies helping the world become more inclusive. 

Dot

Dot is the worlds first wearable braille smartwatch. It is a great product and it’s cheaper than the basic e-braille items that can cost up to thousands of dollars. Dot is able to help the blind access Tweets, messages and books from wherever they are at any time. This tool works with six dots on four cells that are located on the front of the smartwatch. These dots will either rise or decrease in order to form four letters in braille. It can be connected through Bluetooth to smartphones and then emailed or messaged into braille for the user.

Talkitt

This is a very innovate app that helps those with language or speech disorders to communicate with others. It translates the pronunciation into understandable speech so that the person can understand what they are trying to say, regardless of their speech impediment. This app works well with other accessories too, such as a cool pop socket, that I mentioned before. 

Talkitt works in different languages and works by learning the user’s speech patterns first in order to then create a personal speech dictionary. Talkit will then recognise the unintelligible pronunciation where it will then translate into speech, other people are able to understand. 

Sesame Phone

While mobile phones may be an addiction for some, it is a necessity for people with a disability. Regular phones are not at all equipped for those with limited mobility or the ability to learn how to operate a regular mobile phone. This is a touch-free smartphone that is designed with those who have a disability in mind. The phone can be used with head movements that are tracked by the front-facing camera. This means you can access the features on a smartphone without needing to actually touch it. Such gestures are recognised as if you were using your fingers like browser, swipe and play. There is voice control added too.

UNI

This app is a two-way communicator that works well for the deaf. It uses speech and gesture technology. It works by detecting finger and hand gestures with a special camera algorithm and then converts it into text. It comes with voice recognition so it can turn speech into text allowing two-way communication between people. UNI allows you to create custom sign language with a separate sign builder. You can easily add a custom language to the dictionary. There are two versions; one that needs data another that doesn’t.

By My Eyes

This is a great app that allows blind people to see the world differently. It works by creating a network that can connect volunteers to the blind from around the world. This makes it easy for blind people to accomplish small tasks like to check the date in the milk. The volunteers will get a notification that someone wants help. A video call is then made so the volunteer can assist the person in need.

Axs map 

Many public sites are not equipped with wheelchair ramps and the restrooms that are wheelchair accessible. This is an inconvenience to those who need a wheelchair to get around. This app is a place where wheelchair-accessible ramps and the restrooms in public places can be found. It explains how the facilities are designed and provide a star rating, too.