It’s really the way most of us try to enhance serendipity, when you find something that makes you think “Aha! That was so obvious, why didn’t someone (I) think of it.”

You try to figure out what path the innovation took, and what set of conditions were in place to create that inspiration. One of the more interesting places to seek inspiration is from the disabled, because of what we can learn about the ways they must compensate for the challenges life has provided.

There are at least three reasons to look at disability as a source of inspiration. First, we are all destined to fit into that category eventually, and as we age, the line between the technically disabled and the “aged” is not so distinct.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.pddnet.com/news-innovation-handicapped-design-081809

The University of Granada is funding a project led by Jose Carlos Segura Luna
that would help provide machine-assisted living for the disabled. Segura
Luna’s team has constructed a model room with a computer system that can
track the movements of the person inside it. The system uses ceiling sensors,
a receiver that moves throughout the room, and a computer that analyzes the
information sent from both. The room can automatically brake a wheelchair
when it nears the stairs and open doors when it approaches them. Researchers
plan to expand the system to encompass open spaces and entire buildings with
the help of more sophisticated communication technologies, such as global
positioning systems. They also plan to use a program based on ultrasound for
when the system needs to know the inhabitant’s exact position. Researchers
hope to successfully combine different kinds of technologies, although the
nature of that collaboration will depend on the needs of the inhabitant. If
researchers meet their goal of integrating a wireless device with a location
system, for example, they will avoid a lengthy system installation and cut
down on the number of electronic devices needed. The team’s prototype is
currently being tested in a hospital in Rome.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.andaluciainvestiga.com/english/salaPrensa/notas/090910-02.asp

Link:
Jose Carlos Segura Luna
http://sirio.ugr.es/segura/

The Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) of the College of Engineering
at Virginia Tech has developed a unique robotic hand that can firmly hold
objects as heavy as a can of food or as delicate as a raw egg, while
dexterous enough to gesture for sign language.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.designfax.net/enews/20090901/pr-robotics.asp

Links:
RAPHaEL video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdeYmwiqT5s&feature=channel_page

Dennis Hong
http://www.me.vt.edu/romela/RoMeLa/Dr._Dennis_Hong.html

RoMeLa
http://www.me.vt.edu/romela/RoMeLa/RoMeLa.html

Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory develops a low cost, dexterous robotic
hand operated by compressed air
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2009&itemno=392

Engineers around the world are exploring all kinds of possibilities for
wearable robot interfaces, from brain implants to touch interfaces. Professor
Jacob Rosen and colleagues at the University of California, Santa Cruz’s
Bionics Lab have devised a robotic arm guided by the electrical signals sent
by the brain through the nerves to contract the muscles. These signals can be
read by electrodes affixed to the skin in key locations above the muscles.
Rosen says robot device operation via electromyograph (EMG) signals is
advantageous for a number of reasons, including the fact that the method is
less invasive and less costly than other sources located closer to the brain.
In addition, EMG is a better alternative to simple touch interfaces because
it can yield new insights about muscle physiology and improve people’s
ability to simulate and anticipate specific movements. “We are trying to
allow a loose-leash situation by developing software that employs algorithms
that emulate the muscle physiology, also known as a myoprocessor, to predict
what a muscle is going to do before it has begun to do it,” Rosen says. He is
modeling the muscles to increase his wearable robots’ responsiveness to human
intentions, and also is using the robots to help study how human motion
works, how it goes wrong, and the best way to fix such problems. Rosen says
medical applications, specifically rehabilitation, are his primary area of
concentration. Rosen’s EXO-UL7 robot arm can substitute for a physical
therapist, permitting the remaining muscle control residing in a damaged arm
to move the whole limb plus a load by compensating for gravity.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.citris-uc.org/publications/newsletters/current_newsletter#article-6825

Links:
Jacob Rosen
http://bionics.soe.ucsc.edu/people/rosen/jacob_rosen.html

Wearable Robotics - Exoskeletons
http://bionics.soe.ucsc.edu/research/exoskeleton_index.html

It’s been a good couple of weeks for Boston-area robotics startups: two young
companies have recently closed on significant venture rounds. One of them,
iWalk, is commercializing prosthetic limb technology developed at MIT’s Media
Lab under Dr. Hugh Herr, himself a double amputee.

Read the entire article at:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/robotics/robotics-software/automaton/boston-startup-iwalk-lands-funding-for-robotic-prosthetics

Links:
iWalk
http://www.iwalkpro.com/

Hugh Herr
http://biomech.media.mit.edu/people/herr.htm

PowerFoot One
http://www.iwalkpro.com/products.html

Short video of a National Geographic feature on Hugh Herr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkw_OJ2nto4

Recent research from scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
investigates the mechanics of how blasts affect the brain and may provide an
answer. Traditionally, armor design, including helmets, focused on
minimizing
the force of impacts-either from objects striking the soldier or from the
soldier being thrown against hard surfaces. But the new study investigates
how shock waves from explosions can flex and deform the skull itself,
creating internal pressure on the soft brain tissue. Some current helmet
designs that maintain a gap between the skull and the helmet wall actually
amplify the pressure from blast waves. The research could lead to improved
helmet design that protects from projectiles, impacts, and blast waves.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.scienceprogress.org/2008/10/traumatic-brain-injury-and-helmet-design/

Links:
Recent research article
http://arxiv.org/abs/0809.3468

LLNL research reveals how blast waves may cause human brain injury even
without direct head impacts
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090826152713.htm
https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2009/NR-09-08-03.html
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/llnl-research-reveals-how-blast-waves-may-cause-human-brain-injury-even-without-direct-head-impacts-24470.html

Washington State University researchers have created a sensor-filled smart
apartment that can learn the routines of its inhabitants by observing how
they walk around the home and use appliances. The researchers say the
technology could be used in homes to help people with cognitive difficulties
or dementia perform their daily routines. For example, the apartment can
recognize when a person is making breakfast, and if the person accidentally
leaves the stove burner on, the system can detect the anomaly and provide
audio and video signals to tell the person to turn the burner off. The
computer system that analyzes the sensors’ output, known as Casas, can learn
a person’s habits without prior assumptions on what events or patterns to
expect. The researchers have successfully tested the system in a
single-resident apartment on campus. The system needed about a month of
observation before it could identify the resident’s habits. Casas uses
sensors that detect motion, temperature, light, humidity, water use, door
contact, and the use of items such as appliances. Data-mining algorithms also
were created to help the sensors, which are less accurate than cameras and
other detection systems. One algorithm uses a grid of motion sensors to map
out how a person walks around the home, finding daily routes through the
house, while another algorithm finds patterns in a sequence of events, such
as learning to expect the resident to turn on a tap after turning on the
oven. A third algorithm correlates events it detects with the time of day to
identify patterns, such as when a person eats.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17724-smart-home-knows-just-how-you-like-your-breakfast.html

Links:
Casas
http://ailab.wsu.edu/casas/

Parisa Rashidi
http://eecs.wsu.edu/~prashidi/index.html

Diane Cook
http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/~cook/

Elderly patients who want to stay in their homes instead of having to
consider or be put in a nursing home could get help from a robot in the
not-too-distant future, according to researchers at the University of
Illinois at Chicago. A basic prototype of a robotic caregiver for the elderly
might be a mere three years away, they say.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-robots-for-elderly-city-zonesep02,0,2449341.story

Links:
Milos Zefran
http://www.cvrl.cs.uic.edu/~milos/
http://www.ece.uic.edu/Faculty/zefran.html

Robots may soon be serving the elderly at home just like humans do
http://silverscorpio.com/robots-may-soon-be-serving-the-elderly-at-home-just-like-humans-do/

iRobot CEO: Robot nurses to cut health care costs
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10345239-1.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Robotically Helping the Elderly
http://blog.jumpintotomorrow.com/?p=2382

A 73-year-old man was recently given vision again after being outfitted with
a “bionic eye.” After 30 years of darkness, he now can see enough to follow
white lines on the road and sort socks.

The eye, known as Argus II, is made by American company Second Sight. It
works by using a camera and video processor mounted on sunglasses to send
captured images to a tiny receiver placed on the outside of a patient’s eye.

Read the entire article at:
http://gizmodo.com/5164677/elderly-man-sees-for-first-time-in-30-years-with-bionic-eye

Links:
Artificial retina shows promising results
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/health&id=6998214&rss=rss-kgo-article-6998214

Device restores limited sight to the blind
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/03/09/BA8V168N0A.DTL&o=4
http://www.abc15.com/content/living/yourhealth/story/Device-restores-limited-sight-to-the-blind/NHt2cilSu0qjDYKZIbH3Eg.cspx

‘Bionic Eye’ Argus II Retinal Implant
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1598

How does a “bionic eye” allow blind people to see?
http://health.howstuffworks.com/bionic-eye.htm

Argus II - restoring vision to the blind with microchips
http://www.domain-b.com/technology/electronics/20080625_microchips.html

Artificial Retinal Implant Project Grows
http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/14864.html

Bionic eye gives blind man sight
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7919645.stm

How the bionic eye works
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7920603.stm

A new generation of contact lenses built with very small circuits and LEDs
promises bionic eyesight

In the Terminator movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character sees the world
with data superimposed on his visual field-virtual captions that enhance the
cyborg’s scan of a scene. In stories by the science fiction author Vernor
Vinge, characters rely on electronic contact lenses, rather than smartphones
or brain implants, for seamless access to information that appears right
before their eyes.

These visions (if I may) might seem far-fetched, but a contact lens with
simple built-in electronics is already within reach; in fact, my students and
I are already producing such devices in small numbers in my laboratory at the
University of Washington, in Seattle [see sidebar, “A Twinkle in the Eye”].
These lenses don’t give us the vision of an eagle or the benefit of running
subtitles on our surroundings yet. But we have built a lens with one LED,
which we’ve powered wirelessly with RF. What we’ve done so far barely hints
at what will soon be possible with this technology.

Read the entire article at:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens

Links:
A Twinkle in the Eye
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/eyesb1

Parviz Research Group
http://www.ee.washington.edu/research/parviz/

Babak A. Parviz
http://www.ee.washington.edu/faculty/parviz_babak/

Inside These Lenses, a Digital Dimension
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/business/26novel.html?_r=1&ref=technology