Device Helps Children with Disabilities Access Tablets From: Georgia Institute of Technology - 12/10/2012 By: Liz Klipp Georgia Tech researchers have developed Access4Kids, a wireless input device that uses a sensor system to translate physical movements into fine-motor gestures to control a tablet. The device, when used in conjunction with open source applications and new software, enables children with fine motor impairments to access off-the-shelf apps, as well as custom-made apps for therapy and science education. The research helps children with disabilities "to use what’s in their mind so they have an outlet to impact the world," says Georgia Tech professor Ayanna Howard. The current Access4Kids prototype includes three force-sensitive resistors that measure pressure and convert it into a signal that instructs the tablet. "The real goal is to make it safe and efficient so someone can make it into a commercial product," Howard says. A more advanced prototype will include wireless sensors that can be placed anywhere a child is capable of hitting them. Read the entire article at: http://www.gatech.edu/research/news/device-helps-children-disabilities-access-tablets Links: Access4Kids http://pediatricdevicesatlanta.org/access4kids HumAnS Lab http://humanslab.ece.gatech.edu/humansWeb/Home.html Ayanna Howard http://www.ece.gatech.edu/about/personnel/bio.php?id=135 http://humanslab.ece.gatech.edu/humansWeb/People.html Access4Kids: Helping Children with Disabilities Access Tablets (video 1:07) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc6eygC5eQ8