Shaving my head for St Baldricks children’s cancer charity
I will be getting shaved, shorn, polished, cue-balled, unleashing my solar panel, for St. Baldricks.
Join my team and you too can go all Yul Brenner, or Vin Diesel, or Mr. Clean, too! Or, Mrs. Clean!
Sponsor my shaved head and your donation helps fund children’s cancer research!
Come on! Click and go help out children in need! It’s even tax deductible!
Milo, Kinnect and the future of therapy
I previously wrote about the “Milo & Kate” demo for Kinect (at that time “Project Natal”) for the XBOX 360. The possibility of using a program like this for therapy seems obvious for teaching empathy or helping autistic individuals practice picking up on body language or facial cues.
Here is a recently released video from TED showing off the development in this software over the last year.
Frankly, the “gamey” elements are the most distracting part of the video. I don’t see …
Video: No Barriers USA
I just came across this amazing organization on Twitter. No Barriers USA is doing some amazing things to help individuals overcome their disabilities.
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Roger Ebert’s new voice
I just have to post this. I know many of you will probably have already seen this, either on Oprah, or around the web. But, as a huge fan of the way technology can make a difference in disabled* individual’s lives, I just think this is so cool and amazing.
*Of course, I am not trying to say that Roger Ebert is disabled. Even the loss of speech has not kept him down and he certainly has continued to be as prolific as ever.
What can we do for you in 2010?
We love our clients and want to make working with our office the best experience possible! So, we are sending out this letter to all of our clients asking what we can do better:
As the New Year arrives, I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve you. For 2010, I am resolving to serve you better. That is why I am asking you the following question:
If you could make one change in my office, what would it be?
Nothing is off the table. If you think we need to communicate differently, bill differently, stay open longer, use different technology, or even answer the phone faster, let me know. …
Bionic hand commercially available
While it does not seem as useful as Dean Kamen’s Luke arm, this prosthetic arm is commercially available today.
iBot discontinued but motorized wheelchair technology marches on
I was surprised to read in Popular Science that Dean Kamen’s iBot (an electric, motorized wheelchair which goes from four wheels to two wheels lifting the rider in the process, and can climb stairs,) has been discontinued due to costs. Neither insurance companies, nor Medicaid, wanted to foot the bill for this expensive, although amazing, power chair.
If you are lucky enough to have an iBot, HiZook notes that service will continue on the iBot until 2013.
Here is a commercial for the now departed iBot:
How cool was that! Check out the SavetheIBot campaign to try to …
Game or therapy?
Check out this demo for a Xbox Project Natal game called “Milo & Kate.”
Can you imagine the therapeutic value of this? From phobia therapies like the one below, to helping people with social phobias, to even more complex therapies such as helping individuals with Asperger’s syndrome pick up on social cues, vocal inflections and body language. The possibilities are amazing!
It also opens the possibility of long distance and even multiple provider therapies: the patient interacts with a single avatar …
