Roberta Wilson-Garrett smiles kindly at me and explains that the struggle to draw a spiral on a piece of paper does not begin with putting pen to paper, but simply trying to get a good grip on the writing utensil. Wilson-Garrett has suffered from Parkinson's disease for six years, but is happy to show me how she struggles with it, just so she can also show me how, with new technology, she no longer does.
Wilson-Garrett initially pushed the pen through the paper and we pulled out a new sheet. The spiral that Wilson-Garrett eventually, and very slowly, drew is small and poorly formed. She pushed that piece of paper aside and then I watched as Dr. Faii Ong helped her put on the Gyro Glove, an FDA Class 1 approved device that may be able to counteract her tremors.
Ong has been developing the glove for as long as Wilson-Garrett has had Parkinson's, but they didn't meet until Wilson-Garrett attended the World Parkinson Congress in Barcelona, Spain, where GyroGear – the company Ong founded – showed off the latest version. of the glove.
At first, Wilson-Garrett saw the glove and didn't try it, but when the stress of the conference worsened the uncontrollable tremors that can start in her right hand and travel up her arm, Garrett decided to try the glove. The effect was immediate.
Dr. Ong explained that the device is quite simple. It has a large gyroscopic motor that sits on the back of the glove, so it rests on the back of the hand, and that's attached to a battery pack. There's no complicated AI here, and the glove has no idea of the wearer's intentions. Instead, the gyroscope has one purpose: to keep the internal top upright. In a quake it would fall over to one side or the other, counteracting the vibrations to keep itself upright. However, that action has had a radical impact on the Wilson-Garrett tremors.
As I sat next to Wilson-Garrett, she put on the glove, a process that takes just a few moments and which she likens to an airplane preparing to take off on a runway. I saw a gleam in Wilson-Garrett's eyes as the GyroGlove's monochrome LCD displayed a large check mark, indicating it was ready to use.
Aside from the two hardware pieces on it, the all-black GyroGlove looks like a pretty standard wrist brace. It is not custom made, but there are some small straps to adjust the fit.
With the glove on and turned on, Wilson-Garrett easily grabbed the pen and then quickly drew a spiral. The steady vibration of the GyroGlove not only seemed to counteract her tremors, but also added a bit of bumpiness to her line, which flowed from the pen in what could only be described as a near-perfect spiral.
Wilson-Garrett told me that the impact of this device in her life cannot be underestimated. She recently got her own machine and says she no longer has to think about whether she can make herself a cup of coffee, eat something using a utensil, or button her shirt.
Yet GyroGlove is not a medicine. It is not the medication Wilson-Garrett is taking to control her symptoms, and it does not affect the progression of the disease. Still, it seems to give her a little piece of her life back, and maybe that's enough for now.
Like most potentially game-changing health devices, GyroGlove isn't cheap. Each copy currently costs $5,899 and while they are available worldwide, the UK GyroGear team couldn't tell me how much they would cost outside the US.
@techradar
♬ glass – Nekoi
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