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robohub 00364.txt

#OAK, a Kinect-based active support system for the severely disabled OAK which stands for bservation and Access with Kinectis a software application for use by people with severe disabilities. It has been developed by RCAST at the University of Tokyo in collaboration with Microsoft Japan and is available from assist -i corporation. he Kinect camera detects in three dimensions where people are and what posture they have. Wee used that capability to develop a system called Air Switch. This system creates virtual switches in the air. For example if a person has a cervical injury and can only move from the neck up you can put a switch next to their head. The switch can be worked by any part of the body so it can be used by moving the head like this.?Air Switch works by detecting how far away an object is. The system also has a Motion History capability which detects color changes. For example if Motion History detects that youe moving your mouth the system can put a switch near your mouth. In fact I moving my mouth quite a lot right now and this system can detect motion with millimeter precision. So for people whoe been thought of as totally immobile until now this system could open up a lot more possibilities based on scientific data such as shoulder movements for example. nother option is called Face Switch which keeps detecting facial movements even if the neck moves to some extent. It can be set so that the switch activates when you open your mouth or it can also be controlled by sticking out your tongue blinking or changing the orientation of your face. his system was released in April. Itl soon be available in North america and Europe too. m

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