John's Naidex 2017 experience - what stood out?

That’s it for another year for Naidex, and if you look at the website for Europe’s biggest independent living show they’ve already got the timer ticking up to the next one (it stands at 383 days 20hrs 20mins and 21secs at the time of writing).

bespoken member and Blackwood tenant John Logan made his annual pilgrimage to the NEC in Birmingham to see what the latest was from the giants of accessibility and disability. Needless to say, the place was packed and there was huge range of cool gadgets, devices and assistive technology to share (watch this space…) but right now we want to share John’s big two favourites.

1) MyEye by OrCam – Discrete tech enabling blind and visually impaired people to read and recognise faces…

This leapt out at John as being one of the best new pieces of assistive technology being shown at Naidex this year and couldn’t wait to share the news. A small, and relatively discrete camera which you just attach to your regular glasses, MyEye reads where your finger points, so things like menus, signs, posters, flyers, books, newspapers, etc all get read by the camera which then relates the information through a small ear piece your wear. A couple short videos help give the idea…

2) The Whill – a sturdy and futuristic looking wheelchair. The idea behind it is that it should be equally suited to indoor and outdoor environments. The long mechanical arms flank a seat that can move backwards and forwards electronically on demand e.g. for sitting closer to a table. It has very tight but at the same time smooth manoeuvrability thanks to its 4wheel drive. The tick pattern design on the tires makes it impossible to get a flat. Check it out in action…