News

March 2015 Intel Realsense
Came[| across this on the internet]. To be honest, I'm not sure what it does but we've ordered one. Only $99 and it looks like a hybrid of Kinect and a camera so good prospects!



April 2014 Beamz
Following some of our members seeing it at BETT we've bought the Beamz unit. [|Click here for further info from the company]. At Trinity Fields it's formed a key part of a recent Sensory Music after school club we've been running. See also James' [|review and video of Beamz here] (scroll halfway down the blog to get to Beamz). The instrument has two open spaces with two infra red beams going through each- when they are broken they play a note, soundclip or vocal sound. The advantages are: It's a plug and play device and needs only minimal setting up- either getting the iPad app or downloading a program onto the computer. It sounds good! All the notes and tunes are designed to fit in with each other so it's quite failsafe- if you can interact with it it makes nice tunes. It's quite accessible- our pupils have been playing it with their hands but also their elbows and heads! The only downsides are the lead- it has to be close to a power source and it's full robustness has yet to be tested! It's sold through Inclusive Technology now as well as Amazon so easy to order through school. It's eyegaze compatible too- so one plays the beamz with their hands and one with the eyegaze!

2nd December - Semi Autonomous Driving Wheelchairs using Kinect
Nice little article showing the power of the kinect - a self-driving wheelchair that uses Kinect to help it avoid obstacles.

28th November - Interactive Bathwater
The Aquatop Display projects an image onto a water-filled bath. Users dip their hands in to control a computer game. Hand movements are detected by a Microsoft Kinect camera. The data collected is then translated into instructions that control the game.

15th August - Haptix - lets you turn any surface into 3D multi-touch surface -
Thanks to @catherinelliot for sharing this. This works similar to the LeapMotion - but allows you to use any surface to create a 3D multi-touch surface. Advantages compared to the Leap are that eliminates the need to hold you arm up long periods of time which some students may find difficult. It is still in the development stage and currently on Kickstarter looking for funding. Costwise around $70 - which is very reasonably priced - look forward to seeing developments with this.

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**1st August - Soundbox app for LeapMotion -** Simon Evans from Cognable (developer of the fantastic Lightbox and Soundbox apps for the iPad) has developed a Soundbox app for the LeapMotion. Head to the LeapSEN app page and scroll down to find download link.

27th June - Oculus Rift's - virtual reality kit and its use with SEN
Mathieu Marunczyn ([|@iMathieu85]) who works at Jackson School in Victoria, Austrailia has done some excellent work ( []) with his students using the Kinect and LeapMotion. He is soon to have a development kit for Oculus Rift - a virtual reality headset that immerses the user in the environment. Read the excellent piece from The Penny Arcade Report [] where Mathieu talks about the potential benefits of using the Rift with SEN. In addition, check out Mathieu own piece on his blog - []. media type="custom" key="23533240"

24th June - Disney Aireal - providing haptic feedback to gesture based tech.
This is pretty impressive stuff and could some great implications for the technology we use with our students - check out the video below - media type="custom" key="23531388"

22nd June 2013 - Leap Motion is Released
Finally the LeapMotion is here and to coincide with the launch we have created the LeapSEN wiki which will soon be full of information about how to use this with students and recommended apps. More info about the Leap can be found at []

27th May - Kinect One announced
The new version of the Kinect was announced and looks pretty amazing. James Winchester has written up some thoughts on the new Kinect on his blog - []. Also check out the video below to see what it can do - media type="custom" key="23531372"