Repurposing Commodity Hardware for Use as Assistive Technologies
By Rehrig, Robert; Marks, Joshua; Janansky, Stephen; Aiello, Lawrence; Kiamilev, Fouad; Barner, Kenneth; RESNA Annual Conference - 2010,Publication Date: 2010
Paper describes a method for repurposing inexpensive commodity hardware to assist individuals with disabilities in interacting with and controlling a computer. Using Nintendo Wiimote as the hardware platform, a system was developed that tracks the user’s head movements via an infrared source on a pair of protective glasses and moves a computer cursor accordingly. To implement mouse clicking, Nintendo’s Wii Balance Board was integrated into the system to generate a mouse click whenever the user shifts his or her balance in a certain manner. The software developed to support the hardware system resulted in a general purpose input device framework. The cross-platform framework facilitates the communication between various input devices to allow combinations of devices to operate in unison, creating an advanced human interface device. These device combinations could provide functionality such as gesture recognition, integration of the input of multiple devices, and signal filtering, the latter of which could be useful for a person with disorders involving shaking during movement. The hardware platform can be extended to other commodity devices such as Microsoft’s Project NATAL.
Published by: Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) (Website:http://www.resna.org)
Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) (Web Site: http://www.resna.org )
Link to text: http://web.resna.org/library/conference_2010/CAC/RehigR.html
