Earlier we have seen communicative gloves for the deaf and blind. Now, researchers at Georgia Tech have created a wireless, musical glove that may improve sensation and motor skills of people with paralyzing spinal cord injury (SCI). It’s been found that, the musical glove helps the spinal cord injured people with tetraplegia to move their hands easily,. They can even play the piano.
The name of this glove is Mobile Music Touch (MMT). The glove is created in order to improve sensation in fingers with the help of vibrations. The MMT system works with a computer, MP3 player or smart phone. First a song is programmed into a device which is wirelessly linked to the glove. As the musical notes are illuminated on the correct keys on the piano keyboard, the gadget sends vibrations to “tap” the corresponding fingers. This allows the wearer to play along to the song and gradually memorize the keys to hit.
The goal of this glove is not to teach people how to learn piano/keyboard; rather its purpose is to improve the feeling or movement in the hands of spinal cord injured patients. The gadget was successfully used by individuals with limited feeling or movement in their hands due to tetraplegia. Report found, while learning to play piano with the MMT, several people with SCI saw improvements in their fingers’ motility.
To learn more about the gloves, head over to Georgia Institute of Technology.
Source : Georgia Institute of Technology
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