Technology Tuesday

This week's Tech Tuesday takes us up the mountain to Eldora Ski Resort, where many folks served by Imagine! are able to take advantage of the slopes through the Ignite Adaptive Sports program. Members of the Ignite program are ever vigilant in determining new ways and means for people to maximize their experience on the slopes, and today we'd like to highlight one such mechanism.

Many individuals who take advantage of the Ignite program have something in common: limited, or lack of, sensation in their extremities, specifically fingers and toes. Keeping them warm has always been a priority, but it can be challenging if a person cannot feel or report that their fingers and toes have gotten too cold. John Humbrecht recently set out to solve this issue by developing an app called WarmEnough.

The premise is simple: a small flexible temperature probe is placed inside the boots of a skier, and it relays temperature data to the app (pictured above). If the temperature goes below a certain threshold, an alert chimes to notify you that it's time to get off the mountain and warm up. And that's all there is to it. Simple and effective, and as of this posting, the app is in its beta testing phase, and seems to be working as intended. This app (along with the accompanying temperature probe) is scheduled for release sometime in the summer of 2017 for the following ski season.

Stay tuned! And keep up the good work, Ignite!

Technology Tuesday

Toby and Shelly love Art Class at Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source! They each have their own unique style and choose color swatches on iPads to decide which paint to use.

Guess Who's Touring The SmartHomes?

A couple of weeks ago, a group of third graders from Central Elementary in Longmont visited Imagine's Charles Family SmartHome and learned about how science, engineering, and mathematics are impacting the world of robotics and assistive technology. This group is putting together information for a project on how technology positively influences the lives of individuals with disabilities in their community. What a great group of young learners!

Technology Tuesday

Imagine! PR guy Fred Hobbs spoke yesterday morning to a group of University of Colorado Engineering students in a class taught by Associate Professor Melinda Piket-May.

For the past seven years, students in these classes have worked on projects to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for some of the individuals Imagine! serves. Fred gave some background on the history of services for individuals with developmental disabilities and why that history makes the student’s projects so impactful.

Check out the video below to see some examples of previous assistive tech projects created by CU students.
  Can’t see video? Click here.

Art At The SmartHome

This past Monday, Imagine!’s Innovations Advocacy Council visited Imagine's Charles Family SmartHome and spent time working with each individual on customized hands-on projects. We are so thankful that the volunteers spent their time supporting the residents here in expressing themselves through art!

Technology Tuesday

The Families at The Forefront of Technology 2017 Conference is scheduled for June 2-4 in Snowmass, CO. After two successful conferences focused on breakthrough technology, this year's conference theme is taking innovative technology and putting it to work in the daily lives of people with disabilities. Roll up your sleeves and get ready to make the dream of technology a reality as they explore strategies and tools for making it real along with funding options!

For more information. or to register, click here.