Assistive tech news catchup

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With information on the latest developments in assistive technology and initiatives from the studios of 2RPH in Sydney, RPH Australia brings you AbleQuest.

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Hello, I'm Elaine Jontek. I'm a regular reader and interviewer on the AbleQuest program. Today for something different instead of interviews, we're going to read out three articles related to technology.

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The first one is about fitness, fitness goals for people with disability and that is from The Conversation. The second one is about a new app to help passengers who are blind or vision impaired. That one comes from the ABC Health online.

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And the third one is from the Vancouver Sun about the world's first truly smart earbad. And this article comes from The Conversation. It was published on January 17th this year. It's headed A New Year Means New Fitness Goals but options for people with disability are few and far between.

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It's written by Leanne Hassett, Anne Teidman and Kathy Scherington and they're all professors at the University of Sydney. Around 4 .4 million Australians or 18% of our population live with disability.

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This number is likely to rise as our population ages. Adults living with disability can experience a range of benefits from participating in community -based physical activities such as dance, Tai Chi and yoga, a recently published review found.

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Yet adults with disability are less physically active than those without disability with inclusive community -based activities few and far between. This puts people with disability at increased risk of further disability.

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People with disability should be able to join a local club or group to take part in physical activity they enjoy just like the rest of us. So how can we provide more physical activity options? The benefits of physical activity.

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Our systematic review included 74 trials with 2 ,954 men and women living with mild to moderate physical and intellectual disability. We looked at studies of Tai Chi, Kegong, which is similar to Tai Chi, but more straightforward, using more repetitive movements.

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Yoga, dance, water exercise, gym training, boxing, horse riding, Nordic walking and running. All but one of these physical activities were delivered in conditioned specific groups. For example, a group for people with Parkinson's disease.

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People found benefits from taking part in these recreation activities. Benefits included improvements in walking, balance and quality of life, and reductions in fatigue, depression and anxiety. Dance was particularly beneficial for improved walking.

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Tai Chi, yoga, dance and water exercise were beneficial for balance. Yoga and water exercise were beneficial for fatigue and Tai Chi for depression. Some people with disabilities prefer to be active with others who have similar conditions and abilities.

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Others prefer to be active locally with family and friends. Travel to a disability specific activity may increase the cost and time. The lack of choice puts people with a disability at a disadvantage compared to non -disabled people.

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Some physical recreation activities included in the review used adjustments and extra equipment to be suitable. These adjustments were usually only small. For example, seated options or spending a shorter time in a certain pose or position.

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And equipment was low cost for chairs, exercise bands and so on. Most local community based recreation groups should be able to make simple adjustments to meet the needs of people living with mild to moderate disability.

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However, this doesn't routinely happen. In the review, few activity leaders, that's 37%, had experience and or training working with people with disability. This may limit the confidence of the activity leader to include a person with disability in the class.

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It may also limit the confidence of the person with disability to join a local class. Access to services though is a basic right. Australia is signatory on the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.

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Australia also has a disability discrimination act of 1992. But this seems to provide little incentive for services to take active measures to prevent disability discrimination. The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability confirmed people with disability were still excluded from many areas of society.

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The commission's final report recommended strengthening laws to protect people with disability, prevent discrimination and build a more inclusive society. Momentum and expectation is growing in Australian society for better inclusion.

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So what can we do? First, more physical activity options suitable for people with disability are needed in the community. Guided by the inclusion spectrum, there should be options for both disability specific and inclusive mainstream activities.

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People with disability will then be able to choose an activity that suits their needs and preference. A handful of organisations are leading the way, often led by a person with disability or disability advocate, but more are needed.

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Second, community -based and physical activities need to enable the person with disability to access the setting safely and have equipment suitable to use. Community organisations can audit their service using online tools, such as AEM -free, to evaluate and improve their accessibility.

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Finally, we can all do better to ensure we are accepting and welcoming of people of all abilities in the community, especially in recreation or sporting activities we're involved in. When this happens, Australia will take an important step to being a more inclusive society.

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And that article appeared online in the conversation, which was published on the 17th of January, and the heading was, A New Year Means New Fitness Goals, but options for people with disability are few and far between.

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And this next article is from ABC Health, also online, published in February 2024. It's headed BusRide app to increase independence for passengers with disabilities. A new app to help passengers who are blind or vision -impaired navigate metropolitan public transport systems across Australia is being trialled along a popular Adelaide bus route.

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Ahead of what the technology's developer hopes is an expanded rollout. Software programmer Cassie Haymes is legally blind and said she was motivated to develop the app after she was consistently overlooked at bus stops.

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I could be wearing a high vis vest while holding a sign and I'm still left behind because the bus either doesn't see me, doesn't know I'm here and continues driving past, she said. The CME app links to the bus via an onboard system that digitally notifies the driver that a passenger is waiting.

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The passenger then receives a spoken, visual and haptic notification when the bus is approaching the requested destination. You do need to have an internet connection so that you can connect in with the real -time feed of the bus system so it will show you what bus is upcoming and when it's due to arrive, Ms Haymes said.

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On the bus we've installed a device that we've connected with the onboard bus bell system so that's monitoring the requests as the bus is approaching different stops. It's something that could be scalable and go across the whole bus fleet and across all public transport options.

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We've started with a bus but certainly my goal is to have it rolled out onto trains and trams as well because the issue of catching public transport isn't just related to buses. The software is also set to be trialled in New South Wales and Queensland.

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The Adelaide trial will run on Adelaide's Metro Free City connectors from Monday to Friday for the next six months. Ms Haymes said the software increases accessibility for commuters who are blind or have disabilities.

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It gives us greater opportunity to go hang out with friends, go to a cafe, get to work and not be late because we miss the bus, she said. It just helps increase our independence. The South Australian government said while the app was designed to support people who are blind or have a vision impairment it could be used by people of all abilities with a broader potential to ease anxiety for all public transport customers.

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If we can find ways in which we can make out a public transport system more accessible, more inclusive then we're going to grab it, MP for Adelaide Lucy Hood said. This isn't just for people who may be low vision or vision impaired but people who perhaps suffer from anxiety on the public transport network, our senior commuters.

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It'll just give them the confidence to know that their bus is coming and where their stop is to get off. What Cassie has developed is quite frankly remarkable. All the innovations in public transport other than decarbonisation, this could be one of the most significant innovations in public transport we've ever seen.

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It sounds easy to use and importantly it gives the disability sector the ability to facilitate and get onto our public transport system. Ms. Hame's development of the app was recognised as one of the three winners of the 2022 Holman Prize, an international award for innovative thinkers with vision impairment.

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She said she selected the name See Me because of her experience of being repeatedly left stranded at stops. Standing at the bus stop you're unsure whether you're going to be seen. She said it's just a play on that to go see me.

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I'm standing here. Let me catch the bus. It's just about being seen. And that article was online ABC Health February 24 publication headed Bus Ride app to increase independence for passengers with disabilities.

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And our third article is from the Vancouver Sun and published December last year, December 2023. It's headed the world's first truly smart earbud. Tech company creates revolutionary earbuds to improve life of people with disabilities.

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The way we interact with our technology can make a world of difference in their real world usage. It also makes a huge difference for disabled people who wish to control electronic devices with more ease.

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Thankfully, Naki Logix, a Vancouver -based tech company, has come up with technology that could potentially revolutionise the way humans interact with technology. According to the Vancouver Sun, the Naki technology is essentially an invisible human -to -machine interface that utilises gyroscopic sensors and biosensors to identify the smallest body movements.

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These movements could be as small as the tilting of one's head, the blink of an eye or even clenching one's jaw. Once it identifies these movements, it sends a signal to the corresponding electric device.

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The technology can be used in virtual worlds, the metaverse and more physical tech such as wheelchairs. What makes it even more appealing is that technology is non- evasive and can be applied to earbuds, eyeglasses or any other kind of wearable item.

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There are also no messy wires thanks to Bluetooth connectivity. The invention proved to be so groundbreaking that Time magazine declared it as one of the best inventions in 2023. And that article was published December 23 in the Vancouver Sun.

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It's headed the world's first truly smart earbud.

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You have just been listening to AbleQuest, a program that looks at developments in assistive technology and initiatives. From Elaine Chontek and Barbara Sullivan, thank you for listening and goodbye till next program.