Laptops to Be More Accessible to the Disabled and Elderly

Laptop computers are about to take another technological leap. BT in the UK has created a new motion sensing system. This means that it reacts in an intuitive way very similar to the popular Nintendo Wii console.

The laptop is designed to react to the movements made by the user each movement of up down left or right will generate a certain action on the laptop.

This nifty little device is being called the BT Balance. The primary goal of the motion sensitive laptop is making computers more accessible to people who otherwise might have trouble using then due to disabilities that make the use of a mouse or keyboard extremely hard.

Being able to use the motion sensor does not mean you will have to go out and buy and brand new laptop or PC tablet. Most standard laptops and PC tablets will be simply adjusted to make them motion sensitive. To do this a special devise that houses the motion sensors will be plugged into the laptop or PC tablet. Special software will need to be installed on the computer that allows the sensor device to communicate with the computer and voila; you have a motion sensitive laptop or PC tablet.

The idea behind the laptop motion-sensing device is similar to the way a human ear's balance works. A chip called an accelerometer chip is programmed to know directions such as up or down. It can then tell the computer what each movement means allowing it to react in the users desired intentions.

BT's head of age and disability research, Adam Oliver helped create the new technology. Oliver said, "The technology has obvious implication for those who are disabled or elderly and have difficulty using a fiddly laptop keyboard or mouse. We also wanted to create an interface that was simple and intuitive. Standard ways of controlling PS applications can be too complicated, so we decided to use the analogy of a book to work with. What we ended up with gives you the same look and feel of picking up a book and reading it but in a 3-D digital format."

BT hopes that people will find the new technology very simple to use. A simple tilt of the computer will move the cursor.

Accelerometers are not a brand new technology, they are already effect our everyday lives. For example it is accelerometer that monitors the motion of a car and tell it when it is necessary of release an airbag. Apple computers are using them in their laptop computers already for a different reason. In the Apple laptops it senses if the laptop is falling allowing the computer to protect the hard drive lowering the risk of damage. The most recent use of an accelerometer is the hugely popular games console recently released called the Nintendo Wii.

The laptop motion sensor is not yet ready for a release on the mass market. Work is still being done to perfect the new device and fully develop its capabilities.

Sources
http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/117822.html
http://www.itpro.co.uk/wireless/news/111776/bt-develops-motionsensing-laptop.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6609245.stm