Sesame Enable is the world’s first touch-free smartphone that will allow users (especially disabled) to use without even using their finger.
Just imagine the experience; you taking pictures, making a call or playing a game through gestures, that is, the nod of your head.
The smartphone has specifically been designed for mobility impaired users. Sesame smartphone was developed by Oded ben Dov, the techy entrepreneur, and ex-electrical engineer Giora Livne, a quadriplegic since nine years due to a serious accident.
Livne felt frustrated while asking his wife to make private phone calls and perform other mobile-oriented tasks. He needed to re-connect to the constantly connected world.
Thus, Ben Dov got inspired by Livne’s predicament and set out to invent a device that can help out millions of people with similar disabilities. Post three years and a crowdfunding campaign, we have the phenomenal Sesame Enable that gives people with motor disabilities to access the coolest tool of the information age- the Smartphone.
The first batch of this smartphone will be released to beta users this March.
Open Sesame:
Users can easily use this phone right out of the box since no installation is required, which makes transition to smartphones easier for people with motor disabilities. All they have to do is say “Open Sesame,” and the smartphone will instantly turn on and start working. Computer vision technology is used by the phone’s front camera to capture key points on the face of users. This will activate a cursor that will allow users to navigate the functions of their phone through nodding.
Embedding computer vision technology in the existing smartphone technology allows users to use apps, play games, browse the web, send texts and of course make calls without even lifting a finger or touching the screen.
This is as easy as it seems and the software as well as the design of the phone took a lot of time to be hashed out. Ben Dov and his team of researchers consulted numerous people with different motor disabilities.
Ben Dov states,
“The more you meet with different people you realize that there are a lot of different movements, postures, and positions unique to each person. Every time we met with someone new, we faced new challenges. We wanted to make sure to create a system that would be optimal for everyone.”
The Phone to watch out for:
Sesame Enable is the only touch-free smartphone in the market today. Many companies have been trying to create similar versions using tablets and/or laptops but their product ranges are limited. Such as the touch-free software for performing operations of Windows tablets by Tobii, a Swedish techno firm, is out in the market but it lacks some basic smartphone features like making calls and sending text messages. Moreover, this software and other software for the disabled are really expensive some even cost more than $2,000.
Ben Dov, conversely, aims to make things a bit easier for the users by embedding the Sesame’s technology in to the current smartphone models and charging an extremely competitive price of $900 for the phone.
Watch video demonstration below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZrWmuAPL60
We can state that Sesame phones really are like customized versions of Google Nexus smartphones but because Sesame’s solution is software-oriented, so the company aims to make new models like iPhone that are accessible to touch-free users.
Images via Sesame Enable | Follow @HackRead
