A hand support device and method for somatosensory input to the palm comprises a support portion and an attachment portion. The support portion forms a rounded surface that supports a hand of a user. The attachment portion attaches to a structure. The device activates purposeful motor movement with accurate motor control for users with Dyspraxia when employed in conjunction with evidence-based developmental pedagogy in high stimulating tasks such as music education per the Rancer Method (Kupferstein & Walsh, 2015). In one example, the hand support device attaches to a piano and clamps to the keyslip allowing the user to rest their hand while playing the piano. In another example, the hand support device is adapted to attach to a surface of a laptop or desk with a base surface that is disposed above the laptop, allowing the user to rest their hand while typing on the keyboard.

The present disclosure relates to software used in planning the correction of bone deformities preoperatively or postoperatively, and in particular relates to virtually manipulating rings and struts of an external fixation frame in order to plan the steps for making a desired correction to two or more bone portions of a patient. The software can be used prior to surgery, allowing a user to virtually define a bone deformity, and virtually add and manipulate fixation rings and struts to the bone deformity. Based on the virtual manipulations, a correction plan can be generated that describes length adjustments that should be made to the plurality of model struts over a period of time to correct the bone deformity. The software can also be used after surgical fixation of the fixation frame and struts to the deformed bone.

A system and method for enabling a person with very limited motor and verbal skills to communicate with another person. The system has a pair of spring-loaded buttons having a switch and a contact surface that is pushed by the person to send a contact signal to a controller unit to convert the contact signal into an indication signal. The indication signal is sent to an display to display a message in response to the selected movement of the person's head.

A single link type drive assistance system for a handicapped person may include a control bar configured to make a hinge joint connected to a steering column to form a rotation center at time of up and down operations at a lower portion of a steering wheel, a pedal operation link configured to include an inner tube connected to the control bar to deliver a down operation force using a brake pedal and an outer tube surrounding the inner tube, the outer tube moving along with the inner tube at the time of the down operation to operate the brake pedal and slidably moving with respect to the inner tube without a motion of the inner tube connected to the brake pedal at the time of the up operation, and an accelerator cable unit applied with a sliding motion of the outer tube to operate an accelerator pedal.

A driver assistance system is provided that allows a driver to easily perform an accelerator operation by a finger of his/her hand while grasping a steering holding section. The driver assistance system includes an operation member near a steering wheel held by a driver, which rotates about a rotation shaft in a vehicle front-rear direction and thereby steers the vehicle. The operation member has an operation section that the driver can manually operate to accelerate/decelerate the vehicle, and includes a support member on the steering wheel, the support member supporting the operation member in a slidingly displaceable manner along a steering axial direction. The operation section is disposed near a radially inner side of a rim section of the steering wheel, and the operation section and the rim section overlap in the steering axial direction within a movable range of the operation member along the steering axial direction.

A keyboard for physically handicapped persons, including a translucent surface, a capacitive layer underneath the translucent surface, enabling detection of touch location and pressure on the translucent surface, a projection system dynamically projecting a plurality of visual layouts of keys of a keyboard on the translucent surface, wherein each visual layout includes ASCII character keys or graphical buttons, and a dynamic keyboard layout generator configured to receive user input in conformance with a currently projected layout of keys from a physically handicapped user, and to generate therefrom a time series of ASCII characters or button selections for input to the computing device, to dynamically adjust pressure sensitivity of the keyboard to avoid spurious user input, and to dynamically adjust key sizes and positions in a current virtual layout of keys, to reduce the amount of hand motion required by the user and the amount of discomfort experienced by the user.

[Object]

Provided is an apparatus for arranging objects in such a manner as to permit the user to handle the objects more easily. The information includes a robotic arm device configured to arrange one or more objects, and circuitry configured to determine one or more characteristics of a user, determine an arrangement position of each object of the one or more objects to be arranged based on the one or more determined characteristics of the user, and initiate control of the robotic arm device to arrange each object according to the determined arrangement position of the object.

[Object]

Provided is an apparatus for arranging objects in such a manner as to permit the user to handle the objects more easily. The information includes a robotic arm device configured to arrange one or more objects, and circuitry configured to determine one or more characteristics of a user, determine an arrangement position of each object of the one or more objects to be arranged based on the one or more determined characteristics of the user, and initiate control of the robotic arm device to arrange each object according to the determined arrangement position of the object.

Mechanisms are provided to implement an intraoral control mechanism that allows a user to control an operation of a computer system or an electronic device. The intraoral control mechanism detects a strain based on a tongue of a user moving a control mechanism away from a fixed position; transduces the detected strain into a control signal; amplifies an amplitude of the control signal thereby producing an amplified control signal; converts the amplified control signal to a digital input signal; modulates the digital input signal onto a transmission frequency wave; and transmits the digital input signal to the computer system. The computer system may then either execute the digital control signal on the computer system itself to perform an operation or transmit the digital control signal to the electronic device so as to operate as indicated by the digital control signal. The digital input signal is saved for characterization of the user.

Mechanisms are provided to implement an intraoral control mechanism that allows a user to control an operation of a computer system or an electronic device. The intraoral control mechanism detects a strain based on a tongue of a user moving a control mechanism away from a fixed position; transduces the detected strain into a control signal; amplifies an amplitude of the control signal thereby producing an amplified control signal; converts the amplified control signal to a digital input signal; modulates the digital input signal onto a transmission frequency wave; and transmits the digital input signal to the computer system. The computer system may then either execute the digital control signal on the computer system itself to perform an operation or transmit the digital control signal to the electronic device so as to operate as indicated by the digital control signal. The digital input signal is saved for characterization of the user.