Samsung launches “Look at Me” app to help Canadian families living with autism

Ian Hardy

December 22, 2014 8:05am

Samsung Canada has teamed up with Autism Speaks Canada to develop an app called ‘Look At Me.’ An interactive camera app, it is designed for kids with autism to help improve eye contact, read facial expressions, and express emotions.

The app has different ‘missions’ and levels that are aimed to keep kids occupied by offering up points, various rewards, and visual or sound effects to keep children engaged. Samsung stated that the recommended time to use ‘Look at Me’ is 15-20 minutes each day.

‘Look at Me’ will be available starting December 23rd and is compatible with Samsung Galaxy Tab S, Note 2, Note 3, Note 4, Galaxy Tab 3, Galaxy Tab 4 and Galaxy Tab 5, and Zoom 1 devices.

Samsung Canada, as part of the Look At Me Project, is donating 200 GALAXY Tab S devices with the app preloaded to 200 Canadian families living with autism.

Source Apply to the Look at Me Project here: Samsung

Bionic Eyes Can Already Restore Vision, Soon They'll Make It Superhuman

We now live in an age where radical technology can help the blind to see, an impressive enough accomplishment in its own right that gets even more mind-bending when you consider what's it means for the future. UV vision? Eyeballs that zoom in and out like a camera lens? It's coming!

Scientists 'round the world are working to improve the retinal prosthesis system, or what many people simply call a bionic eye. The leading device in the States is called the Argus II, created by California company Second Sight. It costs about $145,000 and has been used by some 80 visually impaired people in the last few years.

It works by combining an external eyeglass-mounted camera and a sophisticated retinal implant. The camera uses a small microchip to process what it sees, and then wirelessly sends that data to the retinal implant, which has 60 electrodes in it that provide information to the optic nerve—which is what discerns light, movement, and shapes.

But the vision people get with the bionic eye isn't like typical sight. They see contrast and edges of objects, but only in black and white. The ability to naturally see light and color has been eliminated by damage to various cells in the eyes, but with enough use, the brain learns how to make sense of these images that appear from the electrode's signals. Argus II users have reported successfully reading large-print books, crossing the street on their own, navigating an unfamiliar home, or seeing images of their spouse for the first time in decades.

Unfortunately, the Argus II is not able to lift them people out of technical blindness, which in America is 20/200. The best that users have reported is about 20/1000. But upgrades are coming. And here's where things get really interesting.

The next iteration of the Argus II will include the ability to perceive colors, using algorithms that measure electrode stimulations, according to Second Sight. The device will provide sharper images, and be able to focus eyesight like we do a computer screen, increasing resolution and brightness.

Over in Germany, a leading bionic eye product called the Alpha IMS is a self-contained bionic eye—which means instead of an (awkward) external camera, it has a built-in sensor sending signals to the retina. The other major advantage is it uses 25 times the electrodes of the Argus II, which greatly increases resolution. Bionic eye researchers at University of New South Wales in Australia predict there will be a fully functioning artificial eye available by 2020.

The next great leap forward will be to bypass the eye and go straight to the brain. At this point, many visually impaired people aren't able to benefit from the implant, which requires a functioning retina to work. That leaves people with damaged retinas or that have lost their vision to infection, or diseases like glaucoma or diabetes, out of luck. Second Sight is "working on a new implant that bypasses even the retinal layer, and implants electrodes directly onto the visual region of the brain," Second Sight CEO Dr. Robert Greenberg told the BBC. A trial for this is currently scheduled for five blind patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration. This could herald the breakthrough millions of blind people have been waiting for.

It inevitably conjures up scenes from science fiction. Take the ocular enhancements of Star Trek's Geordie La Forge, who has infrared sight, night vision, and telescopic vision. The developments in retinal implant technology now raises the question: Are these these seemingly sci-fi upgrades possible for everyone in the future?

It's a question that's yet to be answered, but there's reason to be optimistic. Some scientists working on bionic devices know the device is not only capable of helping the visually impaired, but, like all bionic devices, giving human beings superhuman ability.

"For me personally, one of the inspirations was Steve Austin, the bionic man," Greenberg recently told Bloomberg TV when asked if his technology could be applied to other industries like gaming. "I think direct interface is probably in the future. I don't know how far out, but it's probably there."

What he means is if researchers can send signals directly to the brain, the brain can learn to interpret those signals and essentially recreate them as a visual image or function. Take telescopic sight, for example, which is already here. We can teach our brains to interpret the powerful zoom-in or zoom-out functions of cameras—we could learn to see much farther and closer than the natural human eye.

In fact, Brian Mech, VP of Business Development of Second Sight, told me, "We could tomorrowallow our patients to see outside the visible spectrum by using a different input device than a visible spectrum camera (an IR camera for example). We can also already provide telescopic vision."

But it gets more bizarre than that. If bionic eyes can see the entire electromagnetic spectrum, that would include infrared vision, heat-sensing capabilities, ability to detect certain gases, and probably even the ability to see right through objects. We could end up with those powers of perception too. We already have devices to measure all these things—the key is shrinking them enough to get them into an implant (or other tethered bodily device) that communicates directly with the brain in a way that renders the input sensible.

It's still speculative, for sure. But far into the future we might become a walking science lab, able to utilize a wide range of devices and applications built into our bionic eyes. The applications would be endless. Soldiers could possess X-ray vision that detects landmines in the ground they're fighting on. Parents could detect dangerous gases in their children's rooms in the same way a carbon monoxide alarm functions. People on first dates might use airport scanner technology to scope each other out, even see what's beneath each others' clothing. If we can project images directly into the visual areas of our brains, we may see things we never imagined, including the millions of microbes living on each of us.

But it gets even more bizarre than that. A robotic eye may able to be set so it never sleeps and will always be on guard, ready to wake you in danger or when it gets light outside. It will also be Wi-Fi enabled, and ready to record your entire life and stream it live on YouTube—or ready to instantly post images on Facebook and Twitter. Or ready to play video games inside your head, like Greenberg alluded to. Your favorite sitcom could play right through the eye into your brain, completely skipping TV.

Currently, the human eye sees about 1 percent of the light spectrum in the universe. That's not much when you think about it. Futurists like myself think that decades from now the bionic eye will improve so much that it will likely see far more than that tiny 1 percent. And because we have two eyes, it seems plausible some people—especially biohacker and cyborg enthusiasts—will replace a biological eye with a bionic eye once that technology arrives. Experience of our universe will never be quite the same.

KID DESIGNS HIS OWN PROSTHETIC ARM AT A SUMMER CAM

by:

 James Hobson

Ever heard of the summer camp called Superhero Cyborgs? It’s where [Coby Unger] met nine-year-old [Aidan Robinson] and helped him design his very own custom prosthetic arm.

The camp is put on by KIDmob for kids who have various limb disabilities, and helps give them the tools and guidance to be able to make their very own prosthetics. Some of the designs the children come up with are cool, useful, pretty and sometimes not overly functional — but [Aidan’s] designs really intrigued [Coby] who is a designer and part of the staff at Pier 9, a world-class fabrication facility (and makerspace) run by Autodesk.

There’s a lot of problems with prosthetics for children. They’re very expensive, kids don’t stay the same size, and even though they might cost a lot, they don’t necessarily work that well. [Aidan] had a few commercial options but didn’t like any of them, so much so that he preferred not wear them period. But when he attended the camp he realized he had the ability to design a prosthetic that he’d actually want to wear.

[Aidan] wanted a prosthetic that could use different attachments specific to what he wanted to do, taking inspiration from a Swiss army knife. He wanted to be able to play the Wii, assemble LEGO, eat food, and even play an instrument. His mom wanted the prosthetic to be able to “grow” with [Aidan]. A tall order? Perhaps, but [Coby] was up to the challenge.

It’s rather ingenious actually. [Coby] designed a flower shaped piece of plastic that can be 3D printed and then thermoformed in warm water to form around the end of a limb.

To tighten it, he stole a ratcheting adjustment system from an adjustable knee strap, allowing for quick installation and removal — something [Aidan] can do himself.

This way as he continues to grow, the prosthetic remains adjustable, and worst case, just needs a new part 3D printed. To allow for the attachment of various tools, [Coby] added a quick release clamping system designed to hold anything with a 1/2″ diameter shaft making it super easy for [Aidan] and his mom to make their own attachments.

Aidan's New Arm from Pier 9 on Vimeo.

3D printing is doing some great things for prosthetics. Earlier this year we saw an Iron Man themed prosthetichand to make kids dreams come true, a cute story about someone making an artistic prosthetic for a random stranger and the introduction of E-nable, a community dedicated to DIY prosthetics — to give the world a “Helping Hand”.

[Thanks Jerome!]

A simple accessibility app can make the visual world audible

Pharmaceutical giant Novartis has created an app to make visually impaired people's lives a little easier. ViaOptaDaily is available for iOS and Android phones, offering a suite of functions that aim to translate the visual world into audible cues. It's essentially six apps in one: there's a weather element, which reads the current conditions aloud; a tool that uses your phone's camera to determine the color of an object; a money identifier that detects and reads aloud the value of bills, and a simple contacts manager, timer and magnifier. ViaOptaDaily isn't doing anything particularly new -- its functions are available through other free and paid apps -- but what it does do is offer all of the above functions in a simple visual and audible interface, for free. The app can currently speak English, German, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic and Japanese, although the fact that it can only detect dollar bills and euro notes limits some of its efficacy internationally.

VIA: PSFK

SOURCE: ViaOptaDaily (App Store), (Google Play), ARWorks

Finger Mouse

WHAT IS A MYCESTRO?

It's a 3D mouse that you wear on your finger and operate using gestures and thumb actions. The Mycestro wirelessly connects to your computer, tablet or other device and allows you to control it from up to 30 feet away.

Samsung's 'eye mouse' is the nicest thing it's ever done

The EYECAN+ is a cheap and accurate tool for helping the disabled use computers

A volunteer group of Samsung engineers has developed a second generation of the company's EYECAN eye-tracking technology, which is designed to allow disabled people to navigate a computer interface. EYECAN+ dispenses with the original's need for glasses and is now just a self-contained unit that slots in under a computer's monitor. Once hooked up, it presents the user with a series of options, which can be highlighted with a look and "clicked" with a blink. The technology was on demonstration in Seoul today, where The Verge's Sojung Lim witnessed it being used by graduate student Hyung-Jin Shin of Yonsei University. Shin, who was born quadriplegic, has been helping test the EYECAN+ and used it to write out a message of support for the project:

"Nice to meet you, everyone. I am happy that the eye mouse is developed in Korea. The eye mouse isn't just an IT device, but arms and legs for a patient with advanced disease. I hope that these kind of research will be continued."

Completing that full message with the eye-tracking mouse took Shin roughly 20 minutes, and he only had one typo, which he quickly deleted. Having grown up relying on his mother to write everything down for him during his studies, Shin now has a new level of autonomy with the EYECAN+, which can even do drag-and-drop commands allowing for the occasional game of Angry Birds too.

Samsung has no plans to commercialize the eye mouse, describing it as too niche of a market, though it does have companies already interested in using the technology and plans to open source the design. The engineers working on EYECAN+ all volunteered for the task and were supported by Samsung, who allowed them to focus their full attention on the project. While the eventual product isn't unique in its functionality and may be bettered by alternatives likeTobii, Samsung has managed to produce it at a fraction of the cost of other solutions, saying it costs in the region of $500 to make.

Correction: Samsung initially indicated the cost to produce the EYECAN+ would be roughly $150, but has since clarified that it's closer to $500. This article has been amended to reflect that change.

This 13-Year-Old Is So Impressive, Intel Is Investing Hundreds Of Thousands In His Startup

Braigo Labs CEO Shubham Banerjee

Shubham Banerjee, the 13-year old CEO of the Braille printer maker Braigo Labs, had no idea what Braille was until last year.

It was only when he came across a fundraising flyer for the visually impaired that he started to wonder how blind people read. So, like any other 7th grader would do, he asked his parents. His father’s response: “Go Google it.”

As he searched the web, Banerjee discovered the high cost of Braille printers, which usually cost upwards of $US2,000. He also learned more about Braille, the tactile writing system used by the visually impaired.

“When I found out the cost of a Braille printer, I was shocked,” Banerjee told Business Insider. “I just wanted to help the visually impaired. I had a Lego Robotics kit, so I asked, ‘Why not just try that?’”

Built out of Lego’s Mindstorms EV3 blocks and little pieces from Home Depot (Braigo stands for Braille and Lego), Braigo Lab’s printer turned out to function quite well. It earned Banerjee a lot of recognition too, including The Tech Awards 2014 and an invitation to the White House Maker Faire, an event that awards student entrepreneurs and innovators.

But most importantly, Banerjee believes it could solve a decades-long problem that’s been holding back so many visually impaired people around the world: the high cost of Braille printers.

Banerjee says his printer could significantly cut down the price of Braille printers to less than $US500. According to his website, there are 285 million visually impaired people worldwide, and 90% of them live in developing countries. It’s not easy to drop a couple grand on a printer, even by a developed country’s standards.

“I want to tell (big company manufacturers) to stop taking advantage of blind people,” he says.

Impressed by his product and vision, Intel came calling last September and told him it would invest in his company. And last week, the investment was made official at the Intel Capital Global Summit, when Braigo Labs was mentioned as one of the 16 tech startups Intel’s investing in this year. Although the exact amount of the investment was not disclosed, it’s reported to be a few hundred thousand dollars. That makes Banerjee the youngest tech entrepreneur ever funded by a VC firm.

“I didn’t think such a big company would ever invest in my company. That was pretty amazing,” Banerjee says.

With Intel’s funding, Braigo Labs plans to build a new prototype that more resembles a regular printer, and bring it to market by next year. Banerjee says he has no plans to expand into other product categories at this point, but Braille printers seem to be just a part of a bigger dream he has in mind.

“I want to do engineering in the medical area when I grow up,” he says. “And I want to finish college.”

This is the Lego Mindstorm EV3 kit he used to build it.

YouTube

These are some of the pieces he used. He also bought some small pieces from Home Depot to build it.

This is the part that holds the main processor, or the “brain,” of the product. It comes with the Lego Mindstorm.

This is what the first prototype looks like.

Here’s a better angle.

This is the second prototype, which more resembles a regular printer. The printer that goes into mass production will look more like this one.

YouTube

He also presented at the Intel Capital Summit 2014 last week, with Intel Capital’s president Arvind Sodhani and Bloomberg’s Cory Johnson.

YouTube