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'Emma' Prototype IoT Watch Helps People with Parkinson's Write Again

Haiyan Zhang, innovation director at Microsoft Research Cambridge in England, developed a prototype watch that helps people suffering from Parkinson's disease, the degenerative nerve disorder that affects over 10 million people worldwide. Zhang worked on the watch for Emma Lawton, a friend and graphic designer with Parkinson's. The watch, called 'Emma,' is designed to reduce uncontrollable shaking, an early symptom of Parkinson's. Small vibration motors inside the wearable stop the brain from creating as many tremors. In this video, Emma Lawton shows how the wearable stabilizes her hand, letting her draw for the first time in years. A Windows 10 app allows Lawton to change the rhythm of vibrations.

Topics:
Electronics & Computers Internet of Things Manufacturing & Prototyping Medical Motion Control Sensors

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    Transcript

    00:00:01 [Music] right I'm going to try and replicate this here we after to a great [Music] start I tend to kind of just avoid doing sketching and writing now because it's just it's not really worth it if you get something like that [Music]

    00:00:31 anything you could do that would just make my hand do what I want it to do and sign my name would be an incredible thing how do we even just begin to help her overcome this this particular symptom of her Tremors and helping her be able to regain her writing ability her drawing ability you know I don't think we're ever going to get that back 100% you know my challenge is is uh I

    00:01:00 mean it's immense someone's made a spoon it actually counteracts the Tremors you get from Parkinson so the spoon actually vibrates in opposition to how your hand might be shaking and it's therefore it is [Music] steady I'm making a a very rough prototype and what this board does is I

    00:01:32 can connect into it through these wires these tiny coin cell Motors so these motors will [Music] vibrate hello hi I'm [Music] Allison it's affecting something I don't quite know what's happening something is going on with it what this is doing is it's short circuiting whatever feedback

    00:01:56 loop there is between the brain and the hand that's causing the TR [Music] I'm on to something right I'm I'm on to [Music] something wo Jesus Christ [Music] oh my [Music]

    00:02:41 God it makes me forget that I have a Tremor I draw one of them for a long time I'm so casual about it yeah I was going to draw a straight line [Music] I've actually just written my name for like the first time in ages can't believe it Mom it's called the Emma oh brilliant it's got my name on it [Music]