“Assistive Technology. Everywhere. Everyone.” That’s the theme of this year’s National AT Awareness Day. The AT Team at Easterseals Crossroads is bringing this theme to life through an Open House tour of their facilities, where attendees will see how AT can be incorporated everywhere from workplaces and classrooms to a gamer’s home arcade.
As the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP) states: “AT isn’t just wheelchairs and screen readers.” At the Open House, guests will see gaming controllers, musical instruments, feeding devices and tablets, among many other things.
“During the tour, we’ll demonstrate and explain assistive technology related to vision, hearing, mobility, communication, recreation, music, activities of daily living, memory, home automation, computer access and so much more,” said Josh Anderson, the director of assistive technology at Easterseals Crossroads. “We aim to give a greater understanding of some of the tools out there to assist individuals with achieving their goals, overcoming their barriers and living more independent lives.”
The in-person open house will take place on Wednesday, April 22 from 4-6 p.m. at Easterseals Crossroads on 4740 Kingsway Drive. There will also be a virtual tour from 10-11 a.m. via this link.
Meet the Teams Behind the Tech
Whether guests visit in person or virtually, the Open House will introduce them to various teams that provide access to AT.
There’s the INDATA Project team with its Equipment Lending Library — Indiana’s largest library of AT devices for loan.
The ATLAS Project team focuses more specifically on AT for the classroom, as it’s a partnership with the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) to provide AT solutions for the state’s K-12 public schools. ATLAS is building its own no-cost Lending Library, which loans AT devices, software and resource materials to school personnel at Indiana’s Local Education Agencies (LEAs).
The Clinical Assistive Technology team will demonstrate workplace accommodations and other tools to assist individuals with achieving their vocational goals.
Try Out Cool Tech
In addition to hearing about AT solutions from these teams, guests will get a hands-on look at how they benefit everyone everywhere. Devices will be on display for guests to try out themselves. One of them is among the newest additions to INDATA’s reservoir of 2,500+ devices — an accessible guitar called the Arcana Strum.
“It’s very straightforward and easy to use,” Anderson said. “The controls were designed from studying how individuals utilized a power wheelchair. And it’s made to be played by anyone with or without a physical or cognitive disability. It also allows you to connect different tools, including different handles and different keys, to make it more accessible in the ways that you might be able to physically manipulate it. But it also has something you can buy called an E-Box that enables it to be controlled by switches.”
A proximity sensor called the Air Strum connects to the E-Box and allows for non-contact playing via movement of hands, head, feet or wherever there is motion.
“So, essentially, they made an air guitar,” Anderson said with excitement. “If you just move your hand, your arm or any part of your body across it, it gives you the same sound as if you’re strumming a guitar. I can’t wait for folks to play with it and see how it all works.”
While music lovers jam out with the Strum in the adaptive lab, gamers can race each other within the world of Mario Kart in Easterseals’ gaming studio.
The studio showcases a range of controllers and alternative input options designed to make gaming more accessible for players with different mobility, strength and range-of-motion needs.
Adapted controllers include large buttons, switches, joysticks and other alternative inputs that players can position and configure according to their level of ability. By adjusting how players interact with the games, these devices help remove barriers and open the door to a wider gaming experience. Thanks to these adapted controllers, a gamer could play a game entirely hands-free. (Pictured below is Easterseals Crossroads’ Content Creation Manager Brandon Scott, showing how he can game without arms or legs.)
The Adapted Gaming Lab is part of Easterseals Crossroads’ larger ES Gaming initiative, which focuses on creating a more accommodating environment in the rapidly growing gaming industry. The initiative promotes accessibility and connection among gamers of all abilities — whether they have disabilities or not.
Again, these devices show how AT can help everyone.
“As we celebrate AT Awareness Day, it’s important to show how technology can bring people with disabilities into the larger community,” Anderson said. “At our Open House, we hope to see people of all abilities interacting with each other through these devices. What better way to do that than playing music and video games together? We hope AT unites everyone everywhere.”
AT Awareness Day image and flyer courtesy of the INDATA Project.
Arcana Strum photos courtesy of arcanainstruments.com.
Gaming Studio photos courtesy of the INDATA Project.