For those who suffer from Parkinson’s Disease, a disorder that attacks the nervous system and movement, simply holding a pen and writing their name can be extremely difficult.
In a recent story by the BBC, graphic designer Emma Lawton, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at 29, hooked up with computer scientist Haiyan Zhang and her team to see if she could calm the tremors in her hand long enough to be able to write and draw again.
Experimenting with tiny coin-cell motors, which vibrate in opposition to Lawton’s tremors, Zhang first produced a prototype and then tested it out on others. Her concept was to “short-circuit” what Lawton’s brain was telling her hand to do.
After months of work, Zhang and her team came up with a piece of wearable technology that they called the “Emma,” which slid right around Lawton’s wrist. What happened? Find out by watching the moving video below.
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