A company located in the southern Turkish province of Hatay has developed two breakthrough devices using assistive technology that aim to help individuals and the elderly maintain their lives better.
Named “Apallon” glasses and the “Apallon Head Mouse,” these devices will facilitate the use of phones and tablets for people with disabilities and are said to contain the most distinguishable features separating them from other triaxial products already produced in Türkiye.
Apallon glasses have the significant feature of being able to distinguish artificial and natural blinking. While the other device, the three-axis Apallon Head Mouse, can be used when the head is turned up, down, left, right and sideways and is meant to provide ease in the usage of televisions, tablets and phones, especially for the paralyzed or semi-paralyzed, and people with a tendency for muscle and joint problems.
Hasan Hüseyin Kahraman and Öykü Gülbaş, who are students at Fırat University and also actively work in the company that delivered the devices to the Turkish market, provided further information about the devices, which are said to be manufactured only in Türkiye at this time.
Stating that they consider the real obstacles are in technology rather than people, the two students said, “We produce devices on assistive technology, that is helping the disabled and the elderly to lead their lives better.”
While they noted that these types of devices have been produced in other countries the students said that the characteristic that sets this device apart from the ones abroad is that it can differentiate between artificial and natural blinking.
The most distinguishing feature of the Apallon Head Mouse device from other triaxial products is the existence of its x, y and z axis. When turned up, this device can move up, down, right and left and sideways. Thus, only thanks to basic head movements, people can use phones, tablets and computers.
The Apallon Head Mouse device is suitable for people with paralysis below the neck. “We have users who have already tried the devices, and it makes us proud to see that contented feeling when they first use them. It is a promising device for disabled and ill individuals.”
“The most important feature is that it is triaxial, which is a first in the world. They are produced entirely in Türkiye, both in terms of software and hardware. These devices are produced to remove barriers in technology because our disabled individuals cannot use phones and tablets, our aim is for them to use technological products,” Gülbaş said.
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