Tag: Assistance

Lifting heavy items can be made easier. Now, an Italian lab team has developed a battery-operated aid for those whose legs cannot support their bodies. The team’s exoskeleton comprises two robot frames with motorised joints at hip and knee level. The structure can be telescopically adjusted to fit different body sizes. It’s attached on the outer side of the...

3D printing can deliver adaptors for handheld toothbrushes and bespoke prosthetic limbs. Now, a London-based startup has come up with a new concept, developing a special sleeve for those with below-elbow limb differences. Once the soft, lightweight sleeve is attached, different adapters can be fitted to it. Enabling those who rely on prosthetics to undertake a range of activities....

Toddlers’ hearing can be checked by smartphone while future hearing aids could be battery-free. But people with tinnitus hear more than they wish. Help is at hand thanks to a research team’s app which uses a chatbot to help people train their brains to ignore the unwanted noise. Employing solution-focused behavioural therapy, users are encouraged to dispel negative associations with...

Thanks to an app people with disabilities can date on an equal footing. And soon the same could be true for wheelchair users - at work and at home. A Lithuanian startup has developed a mobile device, which moves people from a sitting to a standing position at the touch of a button. The equipment is self-balancing and controlled...

Some car tyres can adapt their size according to the terrain. Flexible walls mean flats can be easily converted. But eyewear that automatically adjusts focus between near and distant objects? Sounds unlikely, but it’s exactly the product a startup from Japan has recently developed together with a design firm. Before first use, consumers adjust the diopter for both integrated...

An electric one-seater offers people with limited mobility freedom of movement at the airport. But what if steering is impossible? Enter a Canadian startup which has developed smart earbuds for people with a range of disabilities. Integrated gyroscopic and muscle and brainwave sensors capture the smallest head movements made by the wearer. Like a language, these micro-gestures - a...

Medical consultations can take place at the laundromat, while a platform is helping underrepresented groups obtain the health advice they need. But considerations surrounding social and/or ethnic origin, sexual orientation or other cultural factors are just as important for those in need of care. Enter a New York-based startup, which has used decades-spanning research to identify the core elements...

Whether it’s in the airport or on the road, inclusion is gaining ground. But for people with limited mobility, a dip in the sea still presents a significant challenge. Albeit not in Greece - thanks to a startup that provides automatic seawater access stations. At the beach, users can switch from their wheelchairs to a mobile sun lounger which...