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Tatum is building a robot arm to help people with deafblindness communicate

Summary

This article discusses the work being done by Tatum, a small robotics firm, to develop a robotic hand that can spell out words in American Sign Language (ASL). The goal is to provide people with deafblindness a way to communicate with the outside world. The company is working on two projects: a low-cost robotic hand that can fingerspell ASL, and a safe, compliant robotic arm that can sign more complex words and phrases. There is growing support among organizations for the deafblind, as this is a community that has long been underserved by such hardware projects.

Q&As

What is the percentage of people globally that are severely deafblind?
The percentage of people globally that are severely deafblind is 0.2%.

How does Tatum's robot arm work?
Tatum's robot arm works by spelling out words with American Sign Language.

What are the goals for Tatum's robot arm?
The goals for Tatum's robot arm are to build something akin to an Alexa for people with the condition, using the hand to read a book or get plugged into the news in a way that might have otherwise been completely inaccessible.

How can Tatum's robot arm help people who are deafblind?
Tatum's robot arm can help people who are deafblind by providing them with a way to communicate.

What is the estimated addressable market for Tatum's robot arm?
The estimated addressable market for Tatum's robot arm is 150 million people.

AI Comments

👍 This is amazing! I'm so glad that there are people out there working on projects like this to help the deafblind community. This is going to make such a huge difference in their lives.

👎 I don't see how this is going to help anyone. It seems like a lot of money and effort for something that isn't going to make that much of a difference.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about a company that is developing a robot arm to help people with deafblindness communicate.

Friend: That's really cool! I had no idea that such a thing was even possible.

Me: Yeah, it's still in development, but it seems like it could be really helpful for people with deafblindness.

Friend: Yeah, I can imagine. It must be really difficult to communicate if you can't see or hear.

Me: Yeah. The article says that there are an estimated 150 million people with deafblindness globally, so this could be really impactful for a lot of people.

Action items

Technical terms

Deafblindness
a condition where someone is both deaf and blind
Tatum
a small robotics firm that is building a robot arm to help people with deafblindness communicate
3D-printed
made using a 3D printer
Robotic hand
a hand that is controlled by a robot
American Sign Language
a language that is used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing
Tactile fingerspelling
a way of spelling words using touch
COVID pandemic
a global pandemic caused by the coronavirus
Perkins School for the Blind
a school for people who are blind or visually impaired

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