The Excitement of New Technology

BrookeU

What developing technology that could change the lives of people living with paralysis are you most excited about? With so much talk about virtual reality/augmented reality and all kinds of cutting-edge technology, what do you think that could mean for the paralysis community?

brigittemc

Voice Recognition is a huge plus for my husband who has limited dexterity (C7 complete quad).  I believe Alexa is a godsend...we use her (with Harmony Hub) for voice activated TV controls, and general home automation (lights, locks etc).  Additionally, he for work he uses Siri for email/text correspondence (on iphone and ipad) and also a bluetooth earpiece that features voice annotation and recognition for call answer, ignore capabilities.

BrookeU

Isn't it fascinating how this technology was developed to simply make things more convenient for everyone, but it's actually come in quite handy for people in the disability community? I just wish that aspect of it were talked about more because maybe then other technological development pertaining to the disability community would rise as a more popular point of discussion.

Zcollie

I would have to say I am very grateful for technology that is touch screen. I am a C4 quad with no wrist or finger function. I am only able to operate my iPhone because of the touch screen capabilities. As @brigittemcsaid  mentioned I also use Siri to send texts and emails off of my phone. I love amazon Alexa (echo dot) with smart plugs to use on lights and tv. Glad we live in a time where technology is advanced and benefits the disabled community. Next thing I can't wait for are self driving cars!
I agree! @BrookeU  

Sterlion

@BrookeU
I agree although businesses who invest in such technology makes it for the masses in mind hoping to save them a few seconds when it can change our lives in incredible ways. I am upset that Nike's self lacing shoe that was promoted as helping people with disabilities were so expensive. Not only that, it was a limited release that sold out in a day. Makes me wonder exactly how many people with disabilities were able to get their feet in a pair.

BrookeU

That’s crazy they sold out so fast, @Sterlion! When was this? I would hope that Nike would take away from that the idea that people with disabilities are legitimate consumers in our society, too. They want to spend their money on products that work for them, just like everybody does. Nike should realize that they need to make more of these shoes (which could hopefully lower the price) because there truly is a demand for them.

Sterlion

@BrookeU
I believe there were pre orders in January and the shoes released in February.

BrookeU

@Sterlion I can’t believe I didn’t know about this! Thanks for the info.

Sterlion

@BrookeU
I actually just came across a video on youtube about them. I remembered them talking about it awhile back but wasn't sure when they were going to be released. But that was another big problem about them. I don't think many people in the disability community knew about them.