- Title: ISRAEL-TOUCH FREE MOBILE Touch-free smart phone empowers mobility-impaired
- Date: 28th December 2014
- Summary: HAIFA, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) GAME BEING PLAYED, WITHOUT HANDS, ON MOBILE PHONE
- Embargoed: 12th January 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA2PAQ40IMF0IFFA1N5DM7VU3SI
- Story Text: Sixty-four year old quadriplegic Giora Livne has been wheelchair-bound since an accident in 2005 left him paralysed. But he is determined to use technology to allow him access to the activities most people take for granted.
After watching an interview with entrepreneur Oded Ben Dov who had created a computer game that could be played with head movements, Livne was determined to work with him. Livne challenged Ben Dov to use his knowledge to create a touch-free phone, and the result is 'Open Sesame'.
The Sesame Phone, a Google Nexus 5 Android smartphone, is equipped with technology which customises the phone to the user's face and allows navigation with the cursor to select applications and operate features with head movements. It is tailored to meet the needs of the mobility-impaired.
Livne, an electrical power engineer, has a history of making technical adaptations to improve his quality of life, such as ramps and lifts in his home, but he says the Sesame Phone has the potential to really open up his world.
"I can do everything with the phone. I can call, I can receive calls, I can use SMS, WhatsApp, I can play games and in the very, very near future I will be able to operate a lot of things at home," he said.
"The next step will be driving the car with the iphone, or with the telephone, and of course, my aim is to get to the moon with the phone," he added.
Ben Dov and Livne founded Sesame Enable in 2011 and have successfully tested the phone on 10 users living with different forms of paralysis.
"Sesame created the world's first touch-free smart phone, it is a smart phone for people who can't move their hands, people with disabilities, from spinal cord injuries to cerebral palsy to ALS to more. Through voice control and head movements, you can operate the entire phone, download any app you want, and it will work right out of the box," Ben Dov said.
ALS refers to Amyotrophic Latersl Sclerosis, which is often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease".
While the Sesame Phone has been designed with the mobility-impaired in mind, Ben Dov says it has potential uses for everyone.
"The technology in its core is touch-free control for digital devices, you can imagine using it in the kitchen while you're cooking and your hands are messy, while driving perhaps, any task that revolves (involves) your hands and you need to do something on top of that. Now we believe like many other accessibility solutions, once it's perfected on this crowd, it will overflow to more mass uses," he said.
At the The House of Wheels, an association for children and adults with impaired mobility, people were impressed with the technology.
"From my personal account, I still don't have communication with the outside world, in terms of technology, and the progressive world and with this application, an opportunity has opened up and gives me and many people an equal chance to be like everyone," said Chani Shalevet.
"It will indeed help people with special needs that do not have the ability to hold a phone and can operate it automatically. It will definitely open up a new world," added Yana Finandia after trying out the phone for the first time.
Ben Dov and Livne have launched a crowd-funding Indiegogo campaign to complete the development stage of the project and Ben Dov said he hopes the phone will eventually help more than 10 million people living with a form of paralysis.
Sesame Enable is among the ten finalists of Verizon's Powerful Answers Award, a multi-million dollar challenge to entrepreneurs world-wide to provide innovative solutions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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