[gui-talk] Fwd: New Forthcoming GPS Device
Mike Freeman
k7uij at panix.com
Tue Jan 1 23:18:35 CST 2008
Just another case of someone developing a device to solve what he/she
*thinks* are problems of the blind. I mean bracelets on both wrists
*and* earphones? Oh yes -- I forgot: we're dumb as well as blind.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Pattison
To: GUI Talk ; vip-l
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 6:45 PM
Subject: [gui-talk] Fwd: New Forthcoming GPS Device
From: Parker at Vip conduit
To: Accessible Devices
Many of you will find this interesting.
Happy New Year from all of us,
Parker, Randy and Terry
Thursday, December 27, 2007
"Prototype for Autonomy: Pathway for the Blind" project wins top
honors at
Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
Each year, 1,400 high-school students from more than 40 countries are
invited to compete in the prestigious Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world's largest precollege science
contest. The select group of young scientists is chosen from the
several
million students who compete in local and regional science fairs
throughout
the year. Participants compete for $3 million in scholarships and
prizes,
presenting projects in 15 categories like medicine, biochemistry,
computer
science and zoology. Earning top honors isn't the only goal for
contestants. Nineteen percent (or 274) of the finalists at the
2005 competition held last month have already begun the process to
patent
their projects.
Ammem Abdulrasool, a senior at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science,
won
top honors at this year's Intel ISEF for his project, "Prototype for
Autonomy: Pathway for the Blind." He walked away with $70,000 in prize
money
and a free trip to October's Nobel Prize ceremony. Abdulrasool
developed
technology that allows visually impaired individuals to navigate
themselves
from one location to another by using the Global Positioning System.
Individuals wear a half-kilo Walkman-size device, a bracelet on each
arm and
a pair of earphones. After entering a starting and ending location
into a
personal digital assistant (PDA), they are guided with verbal commands
that
tell them when and in what direction to turn. Simultaneously, a
bracelet
vibrates signaling the correct direction. To test his device,
Abdulrasool
recruited 36 blind adults and asked them to visit five landmarks in
his
neighborhood. The navigational tool saved people an average of 26
minutes
in travel time and reduced the number of errors (wrong turns and
missed
locations). "Looking at how hard it was for them to travel and how
they
were dependent on everyone else motivated me to do something," he
said.
Abdulrasool hopes are applying for a patent and then plan to market
the
product commercially.
In the fair's 56-year history, a number of projects have been
implemented for commercial use. Michael Nyberg, a 2001 competitor,
hoped to
reduce the number of West Nile virus infections through acoustics.
With a
bucket of mosquito larvae and a sound generator, Nyberg discovered
that a 24
kHz frequency resonated with the natural frequency of mosquitoes'
internal
organs: larvae that absorbed the acoustic energy would explode.
His sound-emitting device, Larvasonic, is now sold online
(
www.larvasonic.com
). Tiffany Clark, a 1999 competitor, found evidence that
bacteria produced the methane gas found inside coal seams in Wyoming's
Powder River Basin. This suggested that injecting nutrients into coal
seams
might provide an unlimited supply of natural gas. A Denver-based
technology
firm is now continuing Clark's high-school research. And someday
soon,
blind people around the world may be wearing bracelets that issue GPS
commands.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2007-12/27/content_7323918.htm
Regards Steve
Email: srp at internode.on.net
Windows Live Messenger: internetuser383 at hotmail.com
Skype: steve1963
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Just another case of someone developing a device to solve what he/she *thinks* are problems of the blind. I mean bracelets on both wrists *and* earphones? Oh yes -- I forgot: we're dumb as well as blind.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From:
mailto:srp at internode.on.net Steve Pattison
To:
mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org GUI Talk
; mailto:vip-l at softspeak.com.au vip-l
Sent:
Tuesday, January 01, 2008 6:45 PM
Subject:
[gui-talk] Fwd: New Forthcoming GPS Device
From: Parker at Vip conduit
To: Accessible Devices
Many of you will find this interesting.
Happy New Year from all of us,
Parker, Randy and Terry
Thursday, December 27, 2007
"Prototype for Autonomy: Pathway for the Blind" project wins top honors at
Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
Each year, 1,400 high-school students from more than 40 countries are
invited to compete in the prestigious Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world's largest precollege science
contest. The select group of young scientists is chosen from the several
million students who compete in local and regional science fairs throughout
the year. Participants compete for $3 million in scholarships and prizes,
presenting projects in 15 categories like medicine, biochemistry, computer
science and zoology. Earning top honors isn't the only goal for
contestants. Nineteen percent (or 274) of the finalists at the
2005 competition held last month have already begun the process to patent
their projects.
Ammem Abdulrasool, a senior at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science, won
top honors at this year's Intel ISEF for his project, "Prototype for
Autonomy: Pathway for the Blind." He walked away with $70,000 in prize money
and a free trip to October's Nobel Prize ceremony. Abdulrasool developed
technology that allows visually impaired individuals to navigate themselves
from one location to another by using the Global Positioning System.
Individuals wear a half-kilo Walkman-size device, a bracelet on each arm and
a pair of earphones. After entering a starting and ending location into a
personal digital assistant (PDA), they are guided with verbal commands that
tell them when and in what direction to turn. Simultaneously, a bracelet
vibrates signaling the correct direction. To test his device, Abdulrasool
recruited 36 blind adults and asked them to visit five landmarks in his
neighborhood. The navigational tool saved people an average of 26 minutes
in travel time and reduced the number of errors (wrong turns and missed
locations). "Looking at how hard it was for them to travel and how they
were dependent on everyone else motivated me to do something," he said.
Abdulrasool hopes are applying for a patent and then plan to market the
product commercially.
In the fair's 56-year history, a number of projects have been
implemented for commercial use. Michael Nyberg, a 2001 competitor, hoped to
reduce the number of West Nile virus infections through acoustics. With a
bucket of mosquito larvae and a sound generator, Nyberg discovered that a 24
kHz frequency resonated with the natural frequency of mosquitoes' internal
organs: larvae that absorbed the acoustic energy would explode.
His sound-emitting device, Larvasonic, is now sold online
(
http://www.larvasonic.com www.larvasonic.com
). Tiffany Clark, a 1999 competitor, found evidence that
bacteria produced the methane gas found inside coal seams in Wyoming's
Powder River Basin. This suggested that injecting nutrients into coal seams
might provide an unlimited supply of natural gas. A Denver-based technology
firm is now continuing Clark's high-school research. And someday soon,
blind people around the world may be wearing bracelets that issue GPS
commands.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2007-12/27/content_7323918.htm http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2007-12/27/content_7323918.htm
Regards Steve
Email: mailto:srp at internode.on.net srp at internode.on.net
Windows Live Messenger: mailto:internetuser383 at hotmail.com internetuser383 at hotmail.com
Skype: steve1963
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