Gadgetory

Aric velour has been living with ALS for nearly a decade he relies on a ventilator has 24-hour nursing care and can only communicate by typing up messages with his eyes I can talk with visitors but I can also schedule their visits I can manage my own finances and healthcare outside of the physical paralysis pit I am still nearly as independent and potent as before diagnosis but while his body has failed him his brain has not technology companies are working to take advantage of that brain power to help ALS patients regain some control over their lives basically we are able to take your brainwaves and I use the headset to do mental commands these headsets from emotive have multiple sensors to detect brainwaves you visualize scenes to correspond with commands like left right up and down for example thinking of a hot air balloon when you want a remote-control helicopter or cursor to go up you recall the same scene to trigger the same movement the best way to train the system is to think of sensory experiences so for example I've thought of a hot air balloon and I not only think of it going up but I feel the wind against my face Accenture has developed software to link the headset with Philips smart appliances your brainwaves navigate the cursor through an app that controls the appliances it has the potential to turn the Philips hue lights on and off turn a Philips smart television on and off to request emergency medical services through Philips lifeline and to also issue pre-configured commands this project is still in its early stages Accenture says there are no immediate plans to make the system publicly available this kind of presents the idea that wearables could be used for complex medical uses ALS is such a complicated disease that they really need to find out more about how to help different people with this type of product if it were to ever come to market Melora says the technology would allow ALS patients to regain some independence technology cannot only enhance abilities but restore lost abilities due to trauma or disease so until medical science catches up technology is the cure for ALS and a way for the Lord to have comfort a voice and a connection to the outside world in San Francisco I'm Kara Tsuboi cnet.com for CBS News