Alexa and Raspberry Pi Come Together to Assist Those with Disabilities

Most of us take tasks like walking to the other side of the room for granted, but for those with disabilities, tasks that seem simple to most can be difficult or impossible without assistance. With the advent of inexpensive AI assistants like Alexa and Google Home, simple tasks like manipulating a light or adjusting the television or stereo can now be done via voice control at a much lower cost than ever before.

This is the goal of hackABILITY, “an extended hackathon that seeks to raise awareness about emerging assistive technologies, as well as facilitate the rapid prototyping of new assistive devices.” For this particular assistive hack, called AIDex, a system was set up using a Raspberry Pi as the platform for the listening device, and was build specifically around the needs of team member and tetraplegic Deborah Kennard. While Kennard has a tiny amount of motion control in one finger, she’s losing this ability, and the team went with an entirely hands-free system.

While the device, which includes a 3D-printed enclosure, resembles a normal AI assistant in many ways, the system importantly includes redundant ways to call for help in an emergency. While Kennard can simply ask Alexa to call 911, the system can also recognize if her mouth is opens and closes three times, or if she blows on her water drinking line, indicating she needs help. Finally, the system can also use a Bluetooth cellphone to summon help if the Alexa gadget isn’t working properly.

Although we may take this kind of AI tech for granted today, the system that she currently uses cost $20,000 when it was built 30 years ago, and requires her to wait for a menu to rotate to make selections. Today, an improved system like the one demonstrated here could be made for just a few hundred dollars.