A wide range of technologies Essay

In this report I will account a wide range of technologies mappingd by conjuring trick Smith. prank was involved in a car accident 5 years ago where he lost the use of his legs and ilkwise hurt his spinal cord. He has used a wheel chair ever since. He works as a nettler at imperial university where he teaches science. This has been deeply traumatic towards his physical, social and working aspects of his look. I am going to find out what technologies he uses to get by in life and to hang the hardships he faces with his disabilities and also to find out how he uses these technologies for his personal, social and working aspects of his life. John is kn testify by all his colleagues and is actually popular in his work place. He also goes out with friends in his workplace on social gatherings like clubs but this doesnt often happen because of the trouble he has cope with his disability. technology 1 Work RelatedOne technology that John uses for work is his eyegaze. An eyegaz e is a converse and control system for people with complex disabilities its a response interface that tracks the eye allowing detainment free ready reckoner operation. By looking at certain control keys a person behind do almost anything e.g. get his house lights on and off, open certain doors in his house and use the internet. The eyegaze is an excellent system used by many dis adequated people.John has an eyegaze com rangeer system attached to his wheelchair. At his university he screwing admonisher his students and use the interactive white jump on in his associationroom to show his students pictures or caste them question for class work. His eyegaze can also conjoin to his printer wirelessly so that he can print out question that he has set his class for homework or revision sheets for their test.AdvantagesAdvantages of an eyegaze are that it allows people with complex disabilities like spinal cord palsy to surf the net and do day-to-day tasks that would normally dr ive been impossible in their current dry land of wellbeing. The eyegaze allows them to do their work and play games that they would normally hold hold up been unable to do due to the fact that they would non put one across been able to reach the keyboard with their disability. The eyegaze allows them to surf the net, keep in touch with others nigh the world and prepare video conferences.DisadvantagesThe eyegaze has many disadvantages is that its harder to use then a normal keyboard as it track youre eye if you make the slightest twitch it will follow and go onto what you looked at. It is very difficult to use as it will follow every move you eye make and the slightest twitch could change the page or delete the sentence you were on. It could also turn off the lights when you want them on or shut a door you want open. Eyegazes are also very expensive and if they break down it beat along fourth dimension to replace because only a petty minority of business produce the technol ogy also the technology of necessity to shipped from other countries and that treats a component part of time.How the technology meets theNeeds of the adult in a work related environmentTo John his eyegaze is a great comfort as he needs to mark his classs work and as he is disabled it would take along time with normal pen and paper so his students send it to him by email. He uses a special computer program which allows him by using his voice to mark their work and send it back to them on by one. His eyegaze allows him to do this without putting a great material body on his back whereas using a keyboard and mouse would pay off put a great stretch forth on his spinal cord and caused him a great lead of pain.His eyegaze is very useful to him in work related situations as it allows him to go throw his work and lecture note quickly without any strain or pain on his back.WHAT WOULD HE DO WITHOUT THIS component part OF TECHNOLOGYWithout his eyegaze John wouldnt be able to monitor h is students in class or set them work by email. Also he would devour to use a normal mouse and keyboard to monitor his constant stream of emails which he receives from students, his colleagues and his doctors and this would have been a constant strain on his back and would have put him in a lot of pain. He would also be unable to automatically turn on lights or open doors as his eyegaze is connected wirelessly to his house and allows him to control his environment.Technology 2 socially RelatedOne technology that John uses in his personal life is his electronic wheelchair which allows him to move near anywhere without the hassle of pushing the wheels. His electronic wheelchair has a portable eyegaze computer connected to his electrical wheelchair allowing him to take his work with him on the go. He uses his electrical wheelchair in a number of personally related activities. thank to his electrical wheelchair he can move anywhere around his house and area without straining his back by having to manually push the wheels.AdvantagesElectrical wheelchairs have many advantages including because theyre barrage powered in that respect is no hassle of moving it instead you push the control stick forward and the wheels move of their own accord. This is excellent as John has spinal paralysis which means that he cannot use his back and if he had a manual wheelchair then someone else would have to push him around and John has told me that I get intot like having people wait on me as I had difficulty coping with the world that I cannot use my back or legs anymore.DisadvantagesAn electrical wheelchair has many disadvantages like it is dependant on batteries in that respectfore it will not work if it has no charge. Another disadvantage is that it cannot be folded and be put into the boot of a car. It is also very heavy and it can be quite a pain sensation when going up the university stairs as he needs his students help as the ramps are on the other side of campus and it would take him an hour to get from his car to the back to his lecture hall. His wheelchair is also very expensive and if it breaks down it will take along time to repair.How the technology meets theNeeds of the adult in a socially related environmentFor John his electric wheelchair is one the best gashs of technology he can use as it is fast and reliable and allows him to go everywhere without the hassle and strain of a normal manual wheelchair. It is also a great relief as his back is often in pain and thanks to the wheelchairs special cushions he can lie back and have the special in-built massagers take his backs pain away.WHAT WOULD HE DO WITHOUT THIS PIECE OF TECHNOLOGYWithout his wheelchair John would be unable to move around as efficiently as with his electric one. Also it would have put increased constant strain on his spinal cord and put him in a great deal of pain. He would be unable to take his work with him on the go as there would be no battery to connect the wires to. Without his electric wheelchair it would take him longer to go shopping or go anywhere else.Technology 3 Personally RelatedAnother piece of technology that John uses is his private thumb keyboard. The single fingered key board is a special type of keyboard which follows a new style of keyboard allowing the disabled person to be able to type on his/her computer without putting a lot of nidus on themselves. Another definition for a single fingered keyboard is The M meridianron Single-handed keyboard is curved, with a single recess. It comes in left-handed and right-handed versions and is divided into four major counteracts of keys* 1 block for the fingers* 1 block for the buck* 1 flat panel of keys to the side* 1 row of function keys along the topThe keyboard has push-on push-off functions for the shift, control, and alt keys. The blocks for the fingers and thumb are mirror images of one another in the left-handed and right-handed versions (whereas the flat block and functio n key row are identical in both).AdvantagesThere are a lot of advantages of a single-fingered keyboard like the fact that it doesnt put a lot of strain on the individual(a) using the keyboard. Another advantage is that the special shape and layout takes into account of the letters used in neo day typing. This is done to make the layout more efficient than a normal QWERTY keyboard and can save strain and unnecessary movement between keys. The user of this type of keyboard will find input than is ideal so its recommended that the user used a predictive word processor such as TEXTHELP or prototype to speed up entry and avoid frustration.DisadvantagesSome disadvantages of using a single fingered keyboard is the fact that its very slow and takes long time to process a sentence you wrote and in time longer for a paragraph. Also because of its design youre hand may be to small to reach the buttons or too big and you may press the wrong button meaning that you would have to wait until th e entire word or letter or sentence appeared before being able to change it.Needs of the adult in a personally related environmentJohn enjoys composing papers and articles for various scientific magazines. Thanks to his keyboard and software that increases the speed of appearance of words he can write fast without straining his back or being frustrated at the slowness of his keyboard. This piece of technology allows him to type fast as he is a fast single fingered typer and the keyboard allows him to do this without the fear of him injuring his back further. Without this technology John feels that he cannot have the same hands on cloak to his work like so many of his colleagues.WHAT WOULD HE DO WITHOUT THIS PIECE OF TECHNOLOGYWithout his technology John would have to use a Braille keyboard which in affect would have been more comfortable to use thanks to the special polymer which allows the user to type with his hands on the surface of the table but this would have injured John fu rther as he cannot strain his back as that may support his recovery further.CONCLUSIONIn conclusion I feel that the technologies available to disabled people have been enhanced exponentionally as more people these days are concerned about the eudaemonia of the disabled. This means that there is more awareness now than there was several years ago. The technology in our decade has also been enhanced therefore the development of newer, more practical technologies are easier to produce. The technologies in Johns life mean that he can now appreciate life and enjoy experiences like a normal, healthy person.However there is still room for improvement in the technologies in our life today. In the future we should expect life to become much better for the disabled as there has been much more research into how our body works so their may be development in flexible devices for the disabled.