A small thimble-style device has come into the news for helping people restore their balance. “Scientists hope that their invention will “significantly” reduce the number of falls suffered by the elderly or infirm. It works by detecting when someone is swaying before delivering a tiny vibration that effectively nudges them enough to restore their balance,” The Times reported.
This device has been developed in Japan at the Yokohama National University and the Prefectural University of Hiroshima, replicates this with a “virtual light touch”, the report said.
Made of silicon rubber, this device is worn over the top of the person’s dominant index finger, with a wire attached to a small computer worn on the wrist that looks similar to a smartwatch. The light-touch device sends a signal to the microcomputer when someone starts to sway, wherein the device nudges the user to restore balance. The Times also reported that the researchers said the system was tested on 150 volunteers ranging in age from the sixties to nineties, getting them to stand with the toe of one foot against the heel of the other. It found that when wearing the device, balance was restored as much as touching a physical curtain, and was “significantly lower” than someone just waving their hand in the air for balance.
