Topic 206

IT solutions for disabled people by Marek

As the world’s population grows, so do the needs of the people in it. The has always been a need to communicate amongst humans, and now with our quickly modernizing technology, there maybe be a chance for use to finally start “talking” with people we love, who are not so fortunate.

Victims of accidents, or people who have just been unlucky enough to be born disabled have always had trouble conversing with other people. Over the centuries, many people have suffered from this, as their relationship with their loved ones continues to deteriorate as they struggle to finds the means to “be in touch” with one another.

However, in this modern day and age, technology allows us do to things that we not thought possible before. For example, a physically handicapped person who could not be able to speak could use a touch-pad to translate what he or she was trying to say through pressing a set of keys in order to form a coherent sentence. Newer technology utilizes a complicated bundle of fiber wires to make the pointer on a computer follow the movement of eyeballs, so that a user could actually “control” a computer merely through the use of his eyes, giving new meaning to the phrase “seeing is believing.”

One advanced method, still in its development stage is to actually be able to link the patient’s brain up to a computer, so that it may attempt to communicate through the computer. Though this does sound a little science-fiction like, this is just another signal of man’s greater reliance and need for computers. In this ways, it is almost as if we are trying to integrate people with computers in order to create a better, more efficient, humane world.

In conclusion, though it may seem like every cyber-freak’s worst nightmare, it will be highly unlikely that we will become so reliant on technology that it will consume humanity as a race. Instead we must view it as a helpful partner, that is like a steady arm we can rely on when the going gets tough.