Stephen Hawking Talks About the Linux-Based Intel Connected Wheelchair Project

jeremy · 09-12-2014, 02:05 PM

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Intel has revealed a new, interesting concept called the Connected Wheelchair, which takes data from users and allows people to share that info with the community and is powered by Linux.

When people say Intel, they usually think about processors, but the company also makes a host of other products, including very cool or useful concepts that might have some very important applications in everyday life.

The latest initiative is called the Connected Wheelchair and the guys from Intel even convinced the famous Stephen Hawking to help them spread the word about this amazing project. It's still in the testing phases and it's one of those products that might show a lot of promise but never go anywhere because there is no one to produce and sell it.

"Through the Intel Collaborators program, a team of Intel engineering interns designed a custom platform that can transform standard wheelchairs into data driven, connected machines. Using the Intel(r) Galileo Development kit and Intel Gateway Solutions for IoT, the team created a wheelchair proof of concept that enables the collection of biometrical information from the user, as well as mechanical information from the machine, that can then be analyzed. The team also built an application that allows wheelchair users to map and rate the accessibility of locations, further enhancing the user experience," notes the announcement from Intel.

As the makers of this project are saying, this is a proof of concept, but Intel asked Stephen Hawking to talk about it and to raise awareness about the benefits of this wheelchair.

Another interesting thing about the Connected Wheelchair project is that the development was completed on a Linux system, Ubuntu from the looks of it, although the application used by the users to map the locations seems to be running on an Android tablet.

More at Softpedia...

Linux continues to show up in an astounding number of places.

--jeremy