The Prospectory

Our latest ‘I’ve got an idea’ Fund award is to Matt Carlon, an Industrial Design Engineer with over 20 years experience in disability product development.

In Matt’s words, “my idea is for a ‘virtual’ white stick that uses LIDAR technology to allow blind people to ‘feel’ their surroundings, objects and textures. The design has a point displacement pressure pad that presses against the users finger, much like a braille dot, a variable amount directly correlating to a LIDAR measurement. The LIDAR scale and sensitivity can be adjusted by the user with a thumb wheel and rocker. The thumb wheel on the top adjusts the far distance limit so the user can ‘click’ half a metre increments indicating a ‘measurable’ distance; the rocker (which has the pressure pad within it) pivots to increase the near distance limit and the sensitivity of the displacement feedback allowing the user to touch and feel the shape of the object they are pointing at. My hope is that it will give a improved scope for orientation, in the case of walking the user could scan further ahead than a step, to the side they could orientate with buildings; the tactile response will provide a new intuitive sensory experience to understand their environment, they could ‘see’ sculptures and feel what a park ‘looks’ like.“

Our latest award is to Brandon Smith to help him further research, prototype and experiment with his idea of ‘Amulet’ – an ultra-low-cost wearable electronic health record (EHR) designed for rapid deployment in resource-constrained or disrupted healthcare settings, such as in conflict zones, humanitarian crises, and with displaced populations. Brandon is a post doc researcher with a background in both medicine and electronic engineering and experience of collaboration with overseas partners.

His idea is that Amulet will be able to securely store critical health data: diagnoses, management plans, allergies, medications, and next-of-kin details. Healthcare personnel will be able read and write to the device using already owned, ubiquitous technologies such as mobile phones. The goal is for Amulet to eliminate the need for substantive network infrastructure (e.g., cloud servers, computer access, substantive internet connectivity), bridging chasms in record keeping, information, and knowledge, empowering providers and patients with a resilient, accessible tool for delivering quality care worldwide.

We wish Brandon well with this challenging but potentially transformative project.

Slide set from my presentation to the Sustainable Energy Association is now available here.

Interesting questions and discussion ensued.

‘Creating gods for our time’ – 3 day residential workshop https://larksandravens.com/an-invite/
14th-17th October 2024.
Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Wales, SY20 9AZ

A Visual artist & Experimental psychologist duo (a.k.a. Larks & Ravens) are looking to bring together 6 diverse creative practitioners and thinkers to playfully address the question “what gods have shaped our current world and what counter gods could we imagine and create who might challenge and help us reshape the narrative?”. Over the 3 days, we will think, eat, imagine, share ideas and practices and co-create a panoply of lifesize gods with different transforming narratives.

Applications from artists and philosophers, to story tellers and puppet makers welcome – closing date for applications is 02/09/2024 https://larksandravens.com/an-invite/