04/19/2017
Tonights Showcase for the Abilities Hackathon was nothing short of amazing. We had four teams return with new and improved projects.
Team Hearing is designing a device that allows non verbal individuals to create their own sign language which their device will convert to speech. It can convert ASL or one's own signing language to speech as it learns what your own hand signs mean.
Rain, Rain, Go Away, markedly improved it's automatic umbrella design. This team followed a design process that included researching the existing options for keeping people in wheelchairs dry in the rain and out of the sun. Their presentation included a clear path for future design and implementation.
Reach worked on a camera mounted grabber for people in wheelchairs. The two high school students had been abandoned by their college students teammates but did not give up. With only a few days left at that point, they redesigned the entire project, creating a workable model. They outlined their path forward to include a telescoping feature along with sensors to better evaluate the size and weight of the object to be grabbed.
The last group was designing software that can take information from various devices like smart watches, smart phones, and doctor's input to evaluate a person's fall risk. The data can be used to warn the individual or their caregivers of increased fall risk in order to help prevent falls from ever happening.
The community spirit, the sharing of knowledge, and the care that these hackers exhibit is awe inspiring. All I did was put them together in the same space and then got out of their way. I am proud of that but am mostly humbled by their talent, hard work, and camaraderie.
Good night world.
