GyroGlove at CES 2024: Revolutionary technology offers relief from Parkinson’s disease tremors

Roberta Wilson-Garrett wore a smile as she observed the glove that was providing stability to her right hand. The tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease, which affected her muscle control, were temporarily kept at bay. With the help of the GyroGlove showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2024) in Las Vegas, this Canadian woman could perform everyday tasks effortlessly, such as writing neatly with a pen or holding a cup of coffee without any spills.

“It’s a life changer for me,” said Wilson-Garrett, describing how the GyroGlove stopped the tremors that make seemingly simple tasks like getting dressed a challenge.

GyroGear has built the world’s most advanced hand stabilizer with strategic partners that include Chinese technology conglomerate Foxconn, according to founder Dr. Faii Ong.

The key to the GyroGlove is an attached gyroscope, which is about the size of a hockey puck but has a puck inside that spins faster than a jet engine turbine, according to Ong.

“That glove is made in the same factory as the MacBook Pro,” Ong said, referring to Foxconn as a supplier to Silicon Valley superstar Apple.

The plan is to make the gyroscope smaller in future iterations of the glove.

“We want to take the focus away from the disease and back to the fact that this is a human life we’re talking about,” Ong said.

“That’s what technology should do; it’s more important to focus back on ourselves as people and understand how we can really improve people’s lives.”

– Gadget Guide Dog –

Massachusetts-based GyroGear was one of several companies at CES working to use technology to improve the lives of people with disabilities or impairments.

Startups like Glidance and the likes of Amazon were among the companies packed into the Venetian hotel and casino section, showcasing technology aimed at improving the lives of people with disabilities.

Glidance founder Amos Miller, who lost his sight at an early age, introduced a compact, two-wheeled device that acts as a sort of guide dog for walkers who can’t see.

Glide can provide a destination and show the way to someone holding it by the handle, or it can be easily pushed along obstacle detection and users along safe routes.

“You simply walk, and the wheels steer,” Miller told AFP while demonstrating the device.

“I can tell it where to go if I want, but it resists me bumping into anything.”

The Seattle-based startup plans to launch Glide’s beta program later this year and make it as easy as using a smartphone.

Another Seattle startup called OneCourt has created a toy-sized replica of an American football field that converts real-time updates of a sports match into vibration.

Visually impaired sports fans can place their hands on the artificial field to feel the action in the game.

The device can work with several sports, including tennis, hockey and American football.

“We are excited to make live sports accessible to people with visual impairments,” said OneCourt CEO Jerred Mace.

“Basically, we’re trying to get people closer to the action.”

The vibration of the device gives a sense of factors such as how fast the ball or puck is moving, where the players are on the court and how they are dribbling.

Mace hopes the yet-to-be-released device will be made available through partnerships with teams or leagues and be available to visually impaired fans for free at games.

The innovations presented at the CES trade fair were, for example, Lumen’s technology-packed glasses for the blind that tell users where it’s safe to walk, even avoiding puddles.

There were glasses with frames that functioned as hearing aids, as well as spectacles to compensate for visual impairments or even dyslexia.

Israel-based Orcam offered handheld scanners that read and even translate text for students with learning disabilities or young immigrants just learning English.

“Accessibility is the best use of technology,” said Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart.

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