Chalk Bot at the Tour Du France

An amazing thing is happening at the Tour Du France called Chalk Bot. It's basically a printer for the street which will be printing messages of hope and inspiration in front of the riders and is sponsored by Nike and Lance Armstrong's team. You can send your messages via Twitter to @chalkbot. What's also cool is that they'll send you a picture and location of where it's printed in France once it's complete. See the videos below for more information on chalbot.

I sent a message for Kate. We'll see if it gets printed, and post it here if it does.

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Toyota's Brain Controlled Wheelchair

In a step that goes beyond hands free Twittering, Toyota has developed a wheelchair that can be controlled using an individual's mind.

"The BSI-TOYOTA Collaboration Center (BTCC; Hidenori Kimura, Director), has succeeded in developing a system which utilizes one of the fastest technologies in the world, controlling a wheelchair using brain waves in as little as 125 milliseconds" -Press Release

• Press Release
• Information Week article
• Youtube video
  

via Slashdot

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There are some amazing designs that would assist individuals with disabilties up for the James Dyson Award this year.

"The James Dyson Award is an international design award that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It’s run by the James Dyson Foundation, James Dyson’s charitable trust, as part of its mission to inspire young people about design engineering."

My favorite, and currently the Global leader is the The Access: Inclusive Exercise Equipment. See the video below.



I also like the inventiveness of the Obaby

"OBaby is the first stroller designed to address their special needs—particularly the needs of those with mobility challenges who may be in need of a walking aid....OBaby functions simultaneously as a walker and stroller. OBaby provides stability for the user without inhibiting maneuverability over curbs by utilizing a rotating gang on the front wheels. In order to support the adult, OBaby redistributes their weight over the central wheelbase."

And lastly, Protec designed for those with drop seizures. It's basically an airbag for your head. I'd love to see this product get developed and go into testing, as it has perhaps the greatest ability to impact an individual's quality of life. Going from wearing a hockey like helmet to over sized headphones could make a significant impact.


Voting ends July 20 BST, so get out and vote for your favorites. Registration is required to vote, but well worth what you can provide these inventors.

James Dyson Award
View all entries

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Disabled Superheros

Artist Donald Soffritti has pictured what the future of some of our favorite superheros might look like. Though light hearted, it speaks to the point that given enough time, we will all likely be disabled.










(Via Too much free time)

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Oliver Sack's Desk

Seed Magazine has a great picture of Oliver Sack's desk. Though a bit difficult to navigate, it allows you to zoom in and get a closer look at some of the things on his desk and explanations about the objects and pictures.

I love the discussion of the different elements on his desk, and how he gives and receives them for various birthdays based on their atomic number. (He recently gave a friend some Mercury for his 80th, and stirs his coffee with rhenium from his 75th birthday.)
For those not familiar with Dr. Sacks, he's a fascinating writer. From his site:

"Sacks is perhaps best known for his collections of case histories from the far borderlands of neurological experience, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars, in which he describes patients struggling to live with conditions ranging from Tourette's syndrome to autism, parkinsonism, musical hallucination, epilepsy, phantom limb syndrome, schizophrenia, retardation, and Alzheimer's disease...He has investigated the world of Deaf people and sign language in Seeing Voices, and a rare community of colorblind people in The Island of the Colorblind."

OliverSacks.com
Oliver Sacks @ Columbia University
Wired Magazine's interview with Oliver Sacks
Interview with Oliver Sacks @ Universe

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Skeleton Man

Skeleton Man
Originally uploaded by street anatomy

Incredible tattoo. Okay, so it's not disability related, but amazing picture and anatomically related...

Individuals with Autism 40% Faster on Non-Verbal Intelligence Test

A Canadian study has found that individuals with autism complete an intelligence test 40 faster than neuro-typical individuals, according to the Globe and Mail

"eople with autism were 40 per cent faster at finishing an intelligence test that measures reasoning than volunteers without the disorder, a new Canadian study has found.
Using a brain scanner, the scientists also discovered that their autistic subjects used different parts of their brain to solve problems...The non-verbal test that was used in the experiment measures problem-solving and learning skills. In one problem, subjects were given a diagram of dots and lines with a missing section. They had to pick the correct combination of dots and lines from eight options to fill in the blank space.
Dr. Soulières said people with autism relied on visual processing, and found the right answers more quickly than members of the control group, who were more likely to explicitly test potential solutions until they found the right one."

Interesting article, and not surprising that it was a non-verbal test. Head over to the Globe and Mail for the full article.

via disability scoop
photo courtesy of Paul Jerry

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