Enabling Engineering Class Inspires Interactive Keyboard to Help Individuals with Communication
ECE/Bouvé Assistant Professor Kristina Johnson teaches the Enabling Engineering class at Northeastern, which encourages students to apply engineering to empowering individuals with disabilities. The students in her class developed an interactive, adaptive keyboard to help individuals improve their communication abilities.
Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cyrus Moulton. Main photo: Hardy Elementary student Veer and Northeastern professor Kristy Johnson try a glowing keyboard designed and engineered by Northeastern students. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University.
A glowing keyboard opens the world for this second-grader
ARLINGTON — Hardy Elementary student Veer loves his cats, writing and technology.
Thanks to a new interactive keyboard from Northeastern University’s Enabling Engineering class, the second grade student can communicate those loves more clearly — and also enhance his typing and spelling.
“The more feedback, more lights, more fireworks, the better,” said Keren Deneny, Veer’s special education teacher. “He loves it.”
Veer was born with a rare genetic disorder and has limited verbal and motor skills. And although the wonderfully smiley 7-year-old uses his eyebrows to great effect, complex communication can be a challenge.
That’s where Enabling Engineering students Yunfeng Xiao, Fausta Fenner and Linhao Jin come in.
The Enabling Engineering class applies engineering to enable and empower individuals with disabilities. In the class, teams of students are paired with clients who have requested everything from a camera mount for a filmmaker who uses a wheelchair to a bow and arrow designed for people with visual impairments.
Veer needed a way to practice his spelling and typing so that he could learn to communicate through a computer or iPad. He knows his letters and his letter sounds, Deneny explained, but the small keys and the array of letters and numbers and command keys on a typical keyboard are difficult for Veer to use.
Read full story at Northeastern Global News