Recently, one of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease that we are devoted to helping people solve — difficulty writing with pen and paper — received international attention.
An innovation researcher at Microsoft, Haiyan Zhang, invented a watch that can help some people with PD regain much of their ability to write.
Named after Emma Lawton, a graphic designer who had difficulty drawing and writing after getting PD, the watch vibrates in such a way that allows the user to hold their hand steadier.
According to Microsoft’s blog post on Zhang and Lawton’s story, Zhang realized that Parkinson’s disease inhibits muscle control due, at least in part, to the brain of the person with PD sending extra floods of signals to the muscles.
Describing what the new watch does, Zhang said, “It’s like injecting white noise into that feedback loop in order to disrupt it.”
The story made international headlines when it appeared on BBC television in Britain, but the effects of focusing stimuli on the wrist of people with PD has long been known to help reduce the symptom of hand tremors.
The Weighted Hand Writing Glove, pictured below is an example of reducing hand tremors in a similar, although simpler, way to Zhang’s Emma Watch.
Like the Emma Watch, it provides what is called proprioceptive input to the hand. Proprioception is the awareness of the relative position and movements of the different parts of the body. This awareness can be heightened by providing physical stimuli, such as weight or vibration, to the affected limb.
As Zhang put it, such input adds “white noise” to the mix of chaotic signals the brain sends down to the hand.
The Emma Watch even has different vibration settings so that the user can choose the rhythm that helps them the most. We are excited about this level of technology being introduced to help people in the Parkinson’s community, and many other conditions that cause hand tremors might also stand to benefit from this watch.
It’s going to be interesting to see what wearable tech may be invented in the next few years. While it has seen past popularity in products like the Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Google Glass, the possibilities for specific products for the disabled are almost limitless.
But if you want to get an Emma Watch, you’ll have to wait for a while — its inventor is still working with a neuroscience team to figure out ways to scale the technology for the market.
However, the Weighted Hand Writing Glove is available over at our store (here) for an extremely affordable price. So if you’ve been having a need for a stabilizing aid to fit onto your wrist, try it out and experience the joy of using pen and paper once again.
© Copyright 2017 The Wright Stuff, Inc. Articles may only be redistributed in its unedited form. Written permission from The Wright Stuff, Inc. must be obtained to reprint or cite the information contained within this article.
