Assistive IR Remote - Need for the Device

The population of Cerebral Palsy patients is currently over 15 million worldwide.  These patients suffer from brain and nervous system dysfunctions, which often lead sensory, motor and cognitive impairments.  Moreover, Cerebral Palsy patients generally require caretakers to perform the essential tasks in their everyday lives for them, which range from feeding to bathing to turning on electronic devices.  Therefore, to aid the large population of patients suffering from Cerebral Palsy, our Assistive IR remote allows these patients to communicate with electronic devices such as television or radio without the aid of a caretaker at home.  The gain in independence will further improve the patients’ cognitive ability. 

Other than Cerebral Palsy patients, our Assistive IR Remote device with large ability switches will also be useful for the elderly population with impaired eyesight or motor coordination.  Elderly people with impaired eyesight will not be able to read the small letters on the remote for electronics.  Therefore, our device with two large ability switches and a large LCD screen will help them control electronic devices more easily.  According to U.S. Census Bureau, the worldwide population of people older than 65 was over 500 million in 2009.  Furthermore, the elderly population is expected to double in the next 30 years.  Even though not every person over the age of 65 will suffer from impaired eyesight or motor coordination, we believe that our Assistive IR remote device will be beneficial to a significant fraction of the target population as well as save time for their caretakers.