We recently came across this interesting Blog post from the UK disability charity Scope on the potential of touch screen devices for disabled children. As the post points out, the powerful combination of devices such as the iPad and the plethora of ‘apps’ covering everything from communication and speech to behaviour and social cues – not to mention hundreds of games, movies and musical activities - certainly brings a new dimension to helping the education and development of disabled children.
But it doesn’t have to stop with touch. Methods for input and control built around gestures can also offer significant benefits to many children and adults unable to use ‘traditional’ interfaces. A great deal of research has been (and continues to be) done in this area and we fully expect gesture recognition to move from the realms of science fiction and gaming – think Minority Report and Wii – to practical applications sooner rather than later.