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ChewIt, a lozenge-size, wireless “intraoral interface,” could offer a new way for people who can’t use their limbs to control their personal technology.
ChewIt creator Pablo Gallego Cascón, a graduate student in the University of Auckland’s Augmented Human Lab, wanted to prototype a piece of assistive technology that “doesn’t draw the attention of others and doesn’t make [the user] feel weird.” A paralyzed person might control a wheelchair by blowing or sipping air through a straw mounted near the face, but “these interfaces are not as discreet and natural as they could be,” says Cascón. ChewIt, about the size of a large breath mint, remains undetectable to anyone other than the person using it.
In addition to functioning as a physical button when bitten, ChewIt’s semisoft exterior encases a tiny accelerometer and gyroscope that register how the device is moved within the mouth. These oral “gestures” can be programmed to act as input commands: Flipping ChewIt over inside your mouth could tell a motorized wheelchair to start moving, “and you could turn your head to control its direction,” says Cascón, adding that he is refining designs to reduce any potential choking hazards.
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