This is so cool. Hank Torres is paralysed from the shoulder down but with the use of Swype and a head tracking device he was able to set the Guinness World Record for fastest hands free typing.
Here’s the event organiser explaining Hank’s situation:
Hank damaged his spinal cord between the 4th and 5th cervical vertebrae making him a “C4-5 quad”. “From the shoulders down” means the nervous system below that point on his spine isn’t connected. He thankfully has some control of his arms, but no feeling or control in his hands, making it impossible to type. Thus the need for a hands-free system.
I think as much as we try to advance technologically, we shouldn’t marry ourselves to the old ways of doing things. Thinking outside the box, like what Swype does, is just as important because sometimes it can really change the game. Congrats Hank. [YouTube via Android Central]
greg
Saturday, February 12, 2011 at 4:25 PMI think any type of assistive technology that makes life easier, particularly for people with disability, is a wonderful thing and greatly appreciated. However, I would suggest that using speech recognition software is much quicker than the Swype system that has supposedly set a world record for hands-free typing. I also have a similar level spinal cord injury and would probably find the Swype system physically draining when writing reports. But as we are all individuals I understand that different assistive technology suits different people for various reasons.