Meeting+2

Meeting Notes - Lab #2 September 20, 2006 3-069 (Pappalardo Lab) 7-10PM

Taylor's ideas:

low pass filter for shaky hands

Adam:

-filter/ weight support mechanism for moving pots around the kitchen -battery changer helper -power-assist scissors (esp. for lefties)

Aaron:

dangerous to drive at night -> IR camera to detect mooses

but everyone knows a lot of cars have these things, so it would be nice to make it an after-market product

Time to go over research (3-5 minutes/person)

Wheelchairs: Adam: -wheelchair modifications: many already exist (beach, off-road, huge variety), 20-50 manufacturers -large wheelchair market, not counting old people in airports and themeparks -didn't find a raising one Aaron: -searched for scooters -couldn't find lifting scooters, but found lifting wheelchairs -scissor linkage, post, ~4 hr battery life -sidewalks are snowy for 4 months in the north (non-cities) -~$18,000 for off road "Gator"-type wheelchair carrier -would be nice to have a lift for a car -design concepts exist, seem pricey

Comfort and injury: Moneer: -biggest wheelchair is Invacare(sp?) -$1.5 billion sales -bedsores (patients require 50% more nursing time if they have them -3-10% of patients affected -lack of sensation makes the problem worse

Dave: -active suspension system is feasible (lots of instructions online) -passive suspension might be just as good, though -Aaron notes that suspension should be between chair and frame, not frame and wheels -Adam mentions independent suspension for each wheel -Warren notes that wheelchairs are already perfect, we c

Accessibility Aaron: -Green line needs work

Harmeet: -looked at bathing products -Assistive Technology Inc. -very expensive (~$2000), unpowered, needs an assistant -looks a lot like Taylor's idea -another company has a similar product which allows more independence -another company has a "transfer board" product which helps make more things accessible

Games: Harmeet: -$100-$2000 for special-made carnival games -4 weeks to make

Memory: Dave: -finders already exist -many memory problems are mostly due to sensory deficiencies -we should make things memorable (funny shapes, etc.

Vision: Taylor: -sonar cane exists -sonar glasses that turn video into sound for blind people -product that helps blind kids learn music -cane ice spike -10 million blind people -only ~10% of blind children read braille -109 thousand cane users -24,000 people in UK with dual-sensory loss -disability market is exploding in Japan -people over 65 are twice as likely to die in a home fire -eye drops can be difficult

Babies: Adam: -pre-natal music -> most mothers probably just use headphones

Shelters: Adam: -there are lot of nutcases out there, making useless, funny stuff -22 million refugees are getting aid, would be interested in portable shelters

Walking aids: Moneer: -Healthsouth does a lot of rehab (~6000 beds), HCA too (~40000 beds)

Time to come up with 3 ideas Dick: "focus on the what, not the how" Warren: "you will be graded on how well you've done our research and prepared"

-we go through the categories from last week, scratching/keeping ideas

Walking: scratch the rehab supports keep the walker and the hands-free luggage

Hygiene: scratch the sock helper, temperature controller keep the handy-bath new ideas: human car-wash, soft fixtures

Comfort/Injury: scratch the active wheelchair suspension (whole category)

Vision: scratch lighting, money scanner, text reader, stairwell warning system, watch/proximity system keep changable cane tips

Accessibility: keep wheelchair car lift, movable shelving, "stand-pad"

Shelter: scratch whole category

Games: keep everything for disabled kids scratch music for the deaf

Babies: scratch whole category

Wheelchairs: keep off-road wheelchair

Memory: scratch whole category

New ideas: -keep new crutch thing, warm-hands wheelchair, EZRack -scratch braille label maker, grabber, safety hat, brush0matic, leg-picker-upper

Warren interjects, "need to break up into three groups, and trust that each group will come up with something good"

We vote for categories Walking 5 Hygiene 2 Vision 0 Accessibility 6 Games 4 Wheelchairs 4

Final Task forces: Wheelchairs: Aaron, Adam Accessibility: Taylor, Zack Walking: Dave, Harmeet, Moneer Harmeet will present the posters

We will meet Thursday night (tomorrow) at 7 pm 5th floor student center reading room