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Microsoft's Emma Watch Is a Game-Changer For People With Parkinson's (betanews.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Called "Emma," it is a wrist wearable that can help people suffering with Parkinson's disease. The device is named after the Parkinson's sufferer that helped Haiyan Zhang, Innovation Director at Microsoft Research, create the device. What exactly does it do? Well, the incurable disease causes body tremors in those inflicted, and as a result, Emma has very shaky hands. This disease makes it impossible for her to draw straight lines or write legibly. With the wearable on her wrist, however, normal writing and drawing is possible. Remarkably, how it works isn't 100 percent known. "While the wait for a cure continues, Zhang has created what she hopes could be a 'revolutionary' aid for reducing tremors. The Emma Watch uses vibrating motors -- similar to those found in mobile phones -- to distract the brain into focusing on something other than trying to control the patient's limbs. Put simply, Zhang believes Lawton's brain is at war with itself -- half is trying to move her hand, the other half is trying to stop it. The two signals battle and amplify each other, causing the tremors. The device stops that feedback loop," says Microsoft. You will want to watch this video.
Of all the things we shit on Microsoft for -- and rightly so -- Emma sounds really good and they deserve credit for it. Good on Microsoft for investing in such efforts. Now I will go back and use my real ID to criticize them for Windows 10.
I've got so much brain trauma from the repeated head desking from dealing with Microsoft products for so many years. I just can't stop trembling anymore.
Finally Microsoft is doing something to help us poor IT people cope!
It's base-lining. Laying in a sensory deprivation tanks causes hallucinations because there are no sensations to establish a mental baseline. This is the same thing but in a neuro-muscular sense.
love is just extroverted narcissism
Microsoft really needs to pivot away from operating systems and onto other things. Microsoft has always made excellent peripherals for example. I remember using the first Microsoft Natural keyboard, and it did wonders for my RSI at the time.
And then they do stuff like this.
Seems to me that if Microsoft spun off their Windows and Office divisions, they'd be a pretty good company.
If only the main company would listen to and use the results of their Research department.
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perhaps nobody figured out that those vibrations would calm parkinson's tremors? things don't have to be 'high-tech' to be novel...
Whelp, I'm officially an Apple fan boy...
Watching an inspiring video about helping Parkinson's sufferers, and what's the first thing I notice? The Innovation Director at Microsoft Research uses an iMac at home. https://youtu.be/k9Rm-U9havE?t=46s
And next year they're planning one with Daffy Duck.
I have a friend with Parkinson's. I'd love to purchase one of these watches. I wonder if Microsoft intends to make them available now. Will this require a 10 year study and FDA approval? Or was it a one shot for public relations?
[Insert pithy quote here]
It appears to be a case of dithering used to reduce quantization errors. If a system exhibits self-oscillation (Parkinsons tremors), adding random noise in the feedback loop can break that up.
This technique has been used in numerous systems, including one prototyped on the XB-70 and in use on the B-1B. Small nose mounted winglets oscillate to introduce a small amount of 'noise' in the fuselage that interferes with tendencies of the automated flight controls to induce oscillations.
Have gnu, will travel.
It has been, actually, though maybe the Microsoft folks didn't know.
I read years ago about insoles for the elderly experiencing balance problems - they would randomly stimulate the bottom of the foot and having them do so markedly improved balance.
You are certainly correct that a one-trial experiment does not substantiate an effective treatment for Parkinson's.
Besides the placebo effect, besides that the degree of symptoms in any given patient can come and go, there were all manner of brain-stimulation or cell-transplant experiments that didn't transfer from the "let's try this on a patient" to the next level of clinical trial.