Asia-Pacific, Assistive Technology, Universal Design, July 15 2021 INDIA: A Museum of Possibilities, a permanent exhibition on assistive devices and accessible technology for differently abled people, is getting readied in the city by the State Commissionerate for the Welfare of the Disabled and Vidya Sagar, a non-governmental organisation. The museum, which will open this year, will […]

Assistive Technology, Europe, July 12 2021 CROATIA: The centre, the first of its kind in Croatia, is part of the “Network for all” project. Mulić said that digital literacy would ensure new opportunities for blind and visually impaired persons that previous generations did not have. “We put great emphasis on diversity as well as on creating new opportunities […]

As the initiative is related to inclusive architecture and urban planning, it is also connected with accessibility following a Universal Design or Design for All approach.  It is an opportunity to highlight accessibility as part of the wider sustainability debate and mainstream it in architecture and design. In this way, it also relates to Standards, […]

Assistive Technology, Europe, May 18 2021 Austria: Shoes with sensors embedded in them have been created to alert blind and visually impaired people to obstacles in their path. Developed by Austria’s Tec-Innovation company in collaboration with the Graz University of Technology, the intelligent shoes can increase the safety of visually impaired and blind people in their […]

Assistive Technology, Middle East, News, April 26 2021 The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Egypt’s National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD) launched in April an incubator for enterprises producing technologies for the disabled. Executive Director of NIGSD Sherifa El-Sherif stated that the Assistive Technology Incubation Program was launched by opening the door […]

Americas, Assistive Technology, April 22 2021 US: What differentiates an animal from a machine are its mirror neurons, a set of neurons in an organism’s brain that is fired to perform a task based on the performance of self or others. Discovered in 1991, the research on mirror neurons is still going on, and the Giacomo Rizzolatti […]

Americas, Assistive Technology, Built Environment, April 22 2021 US: “In an older population, the evidence for non-pharmacological interventions like home modification, occupational therapy and physical therapy is robust. They prevent falls, improve quality of life, and reduce hospitalization — with effects that are more meaningful than things like vitamin D or aspirin, even though that’s what […]

Africa, Assistive Technology, ICT, Universal Design, January 2 2020 EGYPT: Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has signed a MoU with Japan’s Assistive Technology Development Organisation (ATDO) to carry out projects to improve the lives of disabled people. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Egypt has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with […]

Americas, Assistive Technology, News, November 22 2019 An International Inquiry on the current state of advanced Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable persons with disabilities and older persons to better interact with their environment led by G3ict with the support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. Background G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and […]

JAPAN: The process of acquiring and using disability certificates has long been cumbersome and impractical, but with plastic cards and smartphone apps gaining ground, things could get much simpler. Toshihito Isoya shows his Mirairo ID at Nakai Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line in Tokyo on Oct. 18. | KYODO The government has started allowing plastic […]