Raspberry Pi-Powered Body Illusion Lets You Experience Parkinson's

hypnosec writes: Analogue, a theater/art group, has developed an interactive installation called "Transports," powered by the Raspberry Pi, that lets you experience symptoms of Parkinson's disease. In the illusion, a person's mind is tricked into believing that his/her hand is the hand shown in a point-of-view video, and the motorized glove worn by the user gives the feeling of tremors associated with Parkinson's. The glove recreates tremors, the ones experienced by patients, at 6 hertz – the upper limit of what is experienced by people with Parkinson's disease. Users are asked to follow instructions fed through headphones while using the glove, which creates an illusion of a virtual limb. They are supposed to mimic the movements of a man on the screen and manipulate real cutlery as he does.

Comments

Will it allow improvement on the spoon?

[damn_registrars]

I remember seeing a spoon made to help Parkinson's patients eat that helped patients a fair bit. Perhaps coupling the two would improve the spoon, and other downstream assistance appliances.

Re:Why?

[JasonGoatcher]

This forum is full of unimaginative people, I swear to God.

It's a lot easier, and more compelling, to help people if you know what they're going through. This device allows people to experience the effects of Parkinson's without actually causing actual harm to themselves.

It's simply a role-playing tool, like a bully being asked to pretend like he's the victim.

There is a point to this

[Required Snark]

Event though the Slashdot Pundits are clueless about the utility of such a simulation, it has real significance.

There is nothing like having the experience of another persons problems to make you more thoughtful and sympathetic. Even if someone like Tyra Banks shallowly exploits homelessness for a day, the principle still holds.

For a real world example of how vicious someone can be about a disease like Parkinson's, just look at what Rush Limbaugh did to Michael J. Fox:

In October 2006 Limbaugh said Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, had exaggerated the effects of his affliction in political TV ad advocating for funding of stem cell research. Limbaugh said that Fox in the ad had been "shameless" in "moving all around and shaking", and Fox had not taken "his medication or he's acting, one of the two". Fox said "the irony of it is I was too medicated", adding that there was no way to predict how his symptoms would manifest. Limbaugh said he would apologize to Fox "bigley and hugely...if I am wrong in characterizing his behavior on this commercial as an act". In 2012, Fox said Limbaugh in 2006 had acted on "bullying instincts" when "he said I faked it. I didn't fake it", and said Limbaugh's goal was to have him marginalized and shut down for his stem cell stance.

I would bet that anyone who had the simulated experience would never make that kind of odious claim against someone else. For example if kids in school were exposed to the effect they would be a lot less inclined to make fun of people with tremors.

This is an example of how technology can change perceptions in positive ways.

Re:Why?

[Rhywden]

Indeed. There are also suits and goggles which simulate old age so that youngsters can better empathize with the needs of the elderly. I mean, at some point you'll surely have stood in line behind an older person who took their sweet time to get the spare change out of the purse. With such suits, you can experience for yourself why that took so long.

It's one thing to intellectually know about a concept and a completely different thing to have actually experienced it.

You can do similar stuff when it comes to educating about the dangers of alcohol. Simply put on a special goggle (which emulates your field of view when at about 1.0 BAC and also induces vertigo) and you'll see why driving drunk is dangerous.