To
raise awareness of the situation, jump-start innovation, and encourage students
to consider careers developing assistive devices, the Assistive Technology Hackathon (ATHack) brings together teams of MIT students every year to
brainstorm, design, and create solutions for problems faced by specific disabled
“clients” from the Boston/Cambridge community.
The
event is interdisciplinary and open to anyone. ATHack coordinators asemble
teams of students with complementary skills, interests, and academic
backgrounds. Clients often act as co-designers and meet with their teams at a
dinner a couple weeks ahead of the hackathon to lay out the particular problem they
need solved.
On
the day of the event, the teams have 11 hours to produce their solution, from
start to finish. It’s understood by all involved that the result may not be an
immediately usable prototype, but development can continue beyond the event
with some help and resources from the organizers.
Of
this year’s 15 projects, eight or nine were completed by the deadline. Among
the winners selected were a portable seat to allow someone to use a shower
while traveling and an armband that vibrates to alert a hearing-impaired wearer
when someone rings their doorbell.
More
than 300 participants have collaborated on 70-plus projects since ATHack was
launched five years ago. Its organizers hope to post a compilation database of
hackathon projects within the next few months.
