Something as simple as tapping the screen of an iPhone or iPod Touch can be a big problem for people with physical disabilities. If you have any wrist or finger movement you might be able to handle this without any additional help. I can move my right arm pretty well but I do not have any wrist or finger movement. For an activity as simple as reading an e-book on my iPod touch I can get away with just using my knuckles to tap the screen on the left or right hand side. But that’s not very accurate so there’s not much else I can do on my iPod touch using that method.
The Pogo Stylus was designed for people with thick fingers, people who wear gloves in cold climates, or anyone who might simply prefer a stylus over using their fingers. It is a difference maker for me. It uses a special material that mimics the touch of a finger and it works quite well. I’ve attached it to the splint on my right hand and can do just about everything everybody else can do with their iPod touches. The catch is a tiny part of the stylus must be touching your skin somewhere. If it isn’t it doesn’t work. I’m not exactly sure why this is but it probably has something to do with the electrical impulses generated by the skin. So if you’re going to give this a try when you attach it to your hand splint make sure a tiny part of it is barely touching your skin somewhere. People with physical limitations are generally pretty resourceful. We have to be in order to come up with solutions to make our everyday life easier. This is no exception so one way or another you should probably be able to find a way to attach this to a splint on your hand or something and get it to work for you.
[Edited to add: Later testing by others seems to reveal that no skin contact is needed for the pogo stylus to work.]
But what about if you have no movement at all but can use a mouth stick or a head pointer? Well I’ve done some experimenting and you’re in luck! I took some aluminum foil and wrapped it around the tip of one of my mouth sticks (covering the entire eraser tip). Then I pressed the tip of the mouth stick up against a flat, hard surface to flatten out the aluminum foil at the tip. Would you believe this worked? It doesn’t work as well as the stylus but if you play around with it a little bit it’s certainly enough to operate simple applications such as Stanza. On occasion, I have actually gotten it to work well enough that I could do swipe gestures and even type messages with the on-screen keyboard! When using an iPod touch in this manner you want it to be on a flat, hard surface and you might need to actually press a little bit as opposed to just lightly tapping like one would do with a stylus or a finger.
One of the eReader demonstration videos features an application of this idea. Watch for the robot with the aluminum covered arm at the end of this clip:
- Paul Natsch
Nicole Jenkins January 14, 2009 at 3:40 am
Thanks for writing this. I do not have any physical disabilities but am kind of fat fingered so after testing an Ipod Touch was hesitant to purchase due to my not being good at typing on it. If this mimics a finger/touch this is great.
Like you I have used Macs and love them.
Thanks again.
Nikki Barker June 14, 2009 at 6:45 am
Hi Paul,
A very interesting article!
I am severely disabled and after saving for two years I have recently purchased an Ipod Touch in the hope that it would give me independent access to the features and improve my access to a variety of activities when I’m away from my voice activated computer.
Unfortunately it soon became apparent that I didn’t have enough range of movement in my only working digit, my right hand thumb and I was so relieved to discover the Pogo Stylus on the Internet. Whilst the stylus would work when I held it in my mouth the screen was so close that I couldn’t focus on the icons. We attempted to fix it on to my mouth stick but by doing so it made the stylus ineffective.
Over the last few weeks we have tried a variety of materials in the hope of finding something which will activate the touchscreen, including aluminium foil but without success.
If you ever find an effective method that will enable someone who uses a mouth stick to use a touchscreen Ipod I would be very, very grateful if you could let me know.
I’m not going to give up but you can appreciate that I feel very despondent at the moment and would be extremely grateful for any advice.
Regards
Nikki Barker
Monchis June 21, 2010 at 10:12 am
hey
I’m an iPhone user and I can only move my neck so I used a mouthstick with a JALAPEÑO n works fine, I text, I play games n I used the Internet so try with jalapeño or cerrano
John Barber April 19, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Most interested to read your brief account, have you any more detail or updated experience as I have a young client with a similar situation but seeking iPad use.
Any practical obs you may have satisfactorily developed or acquired could be invaluable.
Best wishes
John
Ronald May 25, 2011 at 6:48 am
Do you really mean putting a stylus into a pepper? I really hope that this does not turn out to be a stupid question.
Mark Sterle September 5, 2010 at 8:40 am
I’ve been a total quadriplegic for almost 32 years.
During this time, I received an undergrad and masters
in computer science and worked as a software developer
for 20 years. the Apple computer developers really
missed the concept of voice control.
How about voice control to navigate the iPhone icons.
It would take only several simple voice commands.
Scan up.
Scan down.
Scan left.
Scan right.
Stop scan.
Select application.
back out.
Wake up.
Go to sleep.
Zoom in.
Zoom out.
I could run almost any application on the iPhone. With these simple commands. I could use it to open my door,
turn off lights or control my TV, or call my attendant.
Apple interface developers… Wake up. It’s very simple.
if anybody knows how to contact Apple interface developers. I would like to know.
Mark