AT&T and NYU are sponsoring the Connect Ability tech challenge, a global competition for developers and makers to create tech to help those with special needs, and we're seeing a few examples of the great work the enterprising participants have come up with. The winners of the $100,000 prize will be announced July 27, 2015, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
While everyone, participants and users alike, is a winner when bright engineers are working on tech to empower those of us with disabilities, some of the ideas we see today are astounding.
Mohammed Azmat Qureshi and Oluwatosin Oluwadare of UT Arlington have developed EyeCYou — a connected camera that lets those with vision problems see the people in front of them. Lauren Silverman, of Marketplace.org, describes the demonstration.
To show how it works, Oluwadare puts on a pair of glasses with a camera attached and snaps my photo. The software analyzes the image and the tablet reads aloud a description: "Person one is wearing an orange dominate shirt, has a light-skinned complexion. She is a female adult."
Xian Horn, a writer from New York with cerebral palsy is also working with participants in the Connect Ability challenge, and talks about a few other great ideas to come from the competition. A device named "Pallette" transforms your tongue into a mouse that can control "anything from a wheelchair to a light setting." Technology named "DrumPants" gives voice to those who have difficulty speaking by tapping sensors on their clothing.
The development of assistive technology is a space that is in dire need. Technology itself has grown to the point where devices and software of this nature are a real possibility, and it's great to see this sort of showcase. By connecting developers with people who can give feedback — not just about what works in theory, but in real applications — the world will be a better place for those of us who require assistive tech in our lives.
