AWARD YEAR
2019
CATEGORY
Body
GOALS
Good Health & Well-being
KEYWORDS
Accessibility, open-soure , assistive technology
COUNTRY
Denmark
DESIGNED BY
Ubaldo Andrea Desiato
WEBSITE
https://www.openarm.info/index.html
OpenARM
An open source project for people with upper body disabilities who struggle using mobile devices.
It started as the final project of the Interaction Design Programme at CIID.
The initial intent of the project was to understand how technology might help people affected by neurodegenerative diseases that lead to physical disabilities.
Talking with people affected by these diseases I found some of them struggling with modern touch-based devices as well as desktop. To use them they had to ask for help, that means a lack of freedom and privacy.
The solutions are already on the market but they are very expensive and less customizable. The price is an important factor to consider when you have to deal with these diseases. Also, the progression of a neurodegenerative disease could progressively decrease your abilities changing the way you can interact with the device.
The solution is an open-source DIY adaptive controller built as a modular solution to allow the implementation of different inputs for different disabilities. The files are available online to be downloaded.