Hands-free Control of Infrared Appliances

For individuals with motor skills difficulties, using handsets such as TV remote controls or, in the case of the video accompanying this article, a child’s infrared-controlled robot, can be difficult or even impossible.  Thankfully there are solutions out there meaning that a disability need not prevent someone from controlling their TV, stereo, lighting or a toy.

The video below demonstrates how, with a small amount of technology (here we are using a Windows-based computer and USB infrared transceiver) and specialist software (in this case Smartbox’s Grid 3) a full emulation of an infrared handset can be achieved.  In the video we use a standard mouse to interact with the software, but there is no reason why this could not be done via switch-scanning or via a head mouse or eye-gaze.

 

 

 

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