Smart Clothes
From:  Northwestern Magazine - Summer 2007 - page 10
By: Elizabeth Henley 

Wheelchair-bound quadriplegics may soon be able to control their directior
and speed without having to manipulate operational devices to signal commands. 

While some devices operate with shoulder, neck and head movements,
Northwestern researchers are part of a Research Institute of Chicago team
developing sensory-laden fabric that could control a wheelchair's movement.
The sensory clothing combined with "machine learning" will adapt the method
of wheelchair control to match individual capabilities. 

The sensory shirt, printed with 52 flexible sensors, must be able to
recognize patient strengths and then learn what the patient can do to drive
the device, according to Ferdinando Mussa-Ivaldi, director of the RIC
Robotics Lab and Northwestern professor of physiology, physical medicine and
rehabilitation, and biomedical engineering. 

The project is currently in its initial stage but could eventually lead to
the development of systems that use wearable sensors for the control of
powered wheelchairs, an alternative to traditional devices such as sip/puff
systems and head switches, according to Alon Fishbach, research assistant
professor in physical medicine and rehabilitation. It is being tested with
spinal-cord injured patients with various degrees of disability. 

Photo caption:
Alon Fishbach's research assistant Bridget Iwamuro models the sensory-laden
clothing.

Links:
Ferdinando Mussa-Ivaldi
http://dept-www.physio.northwestern.edu/Secondlevel/MussaIvaldi.html
http://www.northwestern.edu/nuin/fac/mussa-ivaldi.htm

RIC Robotics Laboratory
http://sulu.smpp.northwestern.edu/robotLab/

Driving a Wheelchair with Your Shirt
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/17803/

Alon Fishbach
http://www.smpp.northwestern.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=127&Itemid=30