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 the need for stars and points climbing up the screen when the draw is the interaction with a virtual character.

I just came across this amazing organization on Twitter. No Barriers USA is doing some amazing things to help individuals overcome their disabilities.

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.

While it does not seem as useful as Dean Kamen’s Luke arm, this prosthetic arm is commercially available today.

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 writer 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:

HiZook also  has a review of the Segway RMP 50 robotic platform,  an omnidirectional powered platform that reminds me of something I read in comic books as a kid. Can you imagine using something like this as a base for a powered wheelchair?

Segway RMP Omni 50 from Cressel Anderson on Vimeo.

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 which may be “driven” by different therapists at different times (allowing 24 hour care and a consistent “face”), or even running on auto-pilot as in the “Milo & Kate” demo above.  I did not realize we were so close the the ‘ractors in Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age.

Virtual Phobia Therapy:

Virtual therapies could be amazing, or they could be awful! What’s your opinion?