The agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry had 557 fatal work injuries last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary for 2011. Read story
"Called the Sony Entertainment Access System, moviegoers can see captioned text on the lenses of specially designed glasses or can hear descriptive audio tracks through headphones or neck loops connected to a wireless receiver ... The system is available in 200 theaters nationwide, including Regal Riviera Stadium 8 and Pinnacle Stadium 18 & Imax in Turkey Creek. By the end of the first quarter of 2013, it will have been rolled out across the country." Read story, watch video
"Ekso is one of several companies and research labs that are working on wearable robots made to help disabled people or to make the human body superhuman ... Ekso says it was the first company to introduce a self-contained robotic suit, without any tethers to, say, a power supply. And though its suits for the disabled are now used only in rehabilitation centers, it is looking ahead to a day when they will let people take to the sidewalks, the shopping malls -- and maybe even the woods." Read story
"A group of scientists created a novel brain implant that improves cognitive performance and decision-making in a monkey. The device, developed in part by researchers at USC, manipulates ongoing brain activity to guide the animal away from mistakes and toward a correct decision. The study, published this week in the Journal of Neural Engineering, marks an important step toward implantable devices that could one day help people with brain injuries better perform basic tasks." Read story
"Balance and movement are common concerns for those recovering from brain injuries or strokes. Others may be working to improve range of motion or gross motor coordination, like walking and lifting. Although the treatment for each patient is different, Wii golf brings an element of pleasure into physical therapy." Read story
"This is eye-gaze technology, at the leading edge of a fast-evolving and -- for those who need it -- vital field known as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), plus the closely related assistive technology (AT). Without it, we would have been denied access to the remarkable mind of Professor Stephen Hawking (not to mention his starring role at the Paralympics opening ceremony)." Read story
"Recovering stroke patients may soon have a new device to help them work on regaining control of their hands without help from a physical therapist. It's a medical device in the form of a glove, and the company making it wants to actively engage the brains of these patients to help re-establish the neural connections between the brain and muscles in the hand. The glove, being developed by HandMinder, includes a set of programmable micro-motors that sits on the wrist and sends sequences of vibrations to the fingers and wrist. The idea is that those vibrations would trigger the brain to send movement signal to the right muscles." Read story
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