The Sesame:Touch-free smartphone for Disabled People

Wheelchair bound for nine years, quadriplegic electrical power engineer Giora Livne is determined not to be left by technology. Keen to use a smart phone, Livne joined forces with app developer Oded Ben Dov to create a device that responds to head movements. And this is the result.  The Sesame Phone is customised to the user's face and allows them to select applications and move the cursor.
SOUNDBITE CO-Founder of Israeli Company Sesame, Giora Livne said: "I can do everything with the phone. I can call, I can receive calls, I can use SMS, WhatsApp, I can play games and in the very, very near future I will be able to operate a lot of things at home." And Livne has big plans. "The next step will be driving the car with the iphone, or with the telephone, and of course, my aim is to get to the moon with the phone." Sesame has tested the phone on 10 different users with different forms of paralysis. "You can imagine using it in the kitchen while you're cooking and your hands are messy, while driving perhaps, any task that revolves (involves) your hands and you need to do something on top of that."

Sesame has launched a crowd-funding campaign to complete the development stage, and the pair hope millions could soon benefit from the technology. Using facial recognition technology and voice control, the Sesame Phone gives those with limited or no use of their hands access to a smartphone. The device is a Google Nexus 5 phone that has been customized with the Sesame Enable technology. The plan is to make the software available on other smartphones in the future but for now, the team is still working on perfecting things with the Nexus 5.

The Sesame Phone gives the user the same experience they’d get from a Nexus 5, only it’s hands-free. That means in addition to making calls and sending texts and emails, the phone can be used for everything from downloading and using Google Play apps to interacting on social networks. The phone also comes with stereo earbuds, making it possible to make calls privately and from wherever you may be. Using a simple “Open Sesame” voice command, the phone can be switched on, giving the user complete control over the device. But the technology still has a long way to go.

One of the biggest challenges is making sure the phone works for all people regardless of their disability. This means that the software needs to be fine-tuned to recognize a range of head movements. Someone with a spinal cord injury, for example, will have slower head movements than someone with a disorder like cerebral palsy. Another issue is the price of the phone, which is expected to cost $900. The team has developed an SDK to enable developers to integrate the technology in their apps thereby cutting costs for the consumer. But that’s also where the Indiegogo campaign comes in.