IBM has invented a mouse adapter that lets people who suffer from hand tremors eliminate excessive cursor movement.
IBM is licensing the mouse adapter to Montrose Secam Limited, a small British electronics company, which plans to manufacture and sell the Assistive Mouse Adapter for under $100 (U.S.).
An Information Week article says:
“Uncontrollable tremors of the limbs, most often the hands, afflict about 10 million Americans, with 4 percent of them under the age of 60, according to the International Essential Tremor Foundation, based in Lenexa, Kan. The condition often starts at the age of 45.
Among the more famous sufferers of the condition was actress Katherine Hepburn, who had uncontrollable tremors of the head. Researchers do not know what causes the condition, and there’s no cure.”
“This is a significant problem,” said IETF executive director Catherine Rice. “There’s going to be a huge demand for this (product).”
“As technology becomes more prevalent in society, people are expected to do more with computers,” said James Levine, one of the IBM researchers who originally developed the mouse adapter. “I had seen how one of my own relatives who had a tremor condition struggled to use a computer at home – he simply could not do it. I knew that there must be way to improve the situation for him and the millions of other tremor sufferers around the world, including the elderly. Using the assistive mouse adapter, hand tremor sufferers will no longer have to rely on others to help with everyday tasks such as banking, shopping or receiving medical advice.”
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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