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MouthPad – In-Mouth Bluetooth Mouse Uses Tongue Sensitive Trackpad

augmental.tech

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Re: MouthPad – In-Mouth Bluetooth Mouse Uses Tongue Sensitive Trackpad

#73

Post by dallyo »

noisy_boy wrote: post #63
dallyo wrote: post #56

I wonder what the tongue equivalent of RSI will be? Jokes aside, it's really great to see innovations like this in human-machine interfaces.

> I wonder what the tongue equivalent of RSI will be? Throat cancer

What would be the mechanism of that?

Re: MouthPad – In-Mouth Bluetooth Mouse Uses Tongue Sensitive Trackpad

#74

Post by passwordoops »

I worked in accessible tech for the blind for a few years. It's awesome that these guys are doing something that could be genuinely useful to a swathe of society who really needs the help, and I do wish the space got more attention and money.

However, and I hope I'm wrong here, this is looking like another case of techies with a nifty looking device that will be "available soon" but, more importantly, already tried multiple times and either never caught on for practical reasons or doesn't present a real improvement over what's already out there (0 - for three such mouth trackpads).

I wish the investors and incubators that take these companies to market would do a much better job of coaching the founders on product/market research with target users so they can focus on truly novel solutions to genuine problem spaces that are ignored, but would make a real material improvement to quality if life.

As an example, in BlindTech it was the "smart cane", which is dumb for so many reasons and will never, ever catch on, but every 6 months or so... Here pops another start up with a seed of $0.1-1M to go to market! That money would be better spent just buying "dumb" canes at a volume discount and reselling them... Or, if you insist on developing a BlindTech solution, an app that could tell a user when they missed a button on their blouse or shirt (I never worked in the paraplegic space, so I'm not sure what other challenges the users face).

(0) https://www.disabled-world.com/assistivedevices/smart-mouthw...

https://spinalcordinjuryzone.com/info/17816/glassouse-worlds...

https://quad.life/

Re: MouthPad – In-Mouth Bluetooth Mouse Uses Tongue Sensitive Trackpad

#75

Post by junon »

Gys wrote: post #28

> Initial 3D intraoral dental scan > Custom-designed MouthPad^ device This seems expensive. I hope the future brings a more general version.

Could be, but I would imagine if they were able to certify this as a medical device that it could be covered in part or in whole by insurance in some (non-US I would imagine) countries.

Re: MouthPad – In-Mouth Bluetooth Mouse Uses Tongue Sensitive Trackpad

#77

Post by ackbar03 »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #21

I'd like to see more comments from the target audience, at the moment the comment section is full of abled people who speculate on the needs and experiences of the target audience.

I've always dreamed of controlling my computer with my tongue. This looks fantastic

Re: MouthPad – In-Mouth Bluetooth Mouse Uses Tongue Sensitive Trackpad

#78

Post by serf »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #21

I'd like to see more comments from the target audience, at the moment the comment section is full of abled people who speculate on the needs and experiences of the target audience.

I'm a c-5 incomplete quadriplegic with hemispheric stroke-like paralysis that bothers my body all over. Some of it is just weakness, some of it is incomplete sensation, some of it is total paralysis. I have one weak-yet-functioning hand, and one hand that works only via the tone present in the hand as a rough pointing-poking tool. I use a manual wheelchair. At my injury level I am exceedingly fortunate to have decent trunk and upper body mobility.

I have found setups that work for me, and i'm comfortable now -- but I wish I had something like this years ago when I had to make accommodations.

My main worry in seeing this -- like all accessibility equipment -- is that it will be outrageously priced or locked up behind some kind of insurance coding so as to capture that segment of the market; most medical groups aim for VFW-equivalent equipment coverage on insurance, and I have no-where near that.

That said : I would love this as a device for TIG-torch actuation. That's one nut that I haven't yet been able to crack, and I was seriously considering the idea of tinkering up some kind of mouth-actuated wireless solution for welding. I can imagine this as a PC bridge to an interface that could help realize a fine control for the torch.

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