ATU562 – Limbitless Solutions with Albert Manero

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Albert Manero:
Hi. This is Albert Manero, and I’m the Executive Director of Limbitless Solutions, and this is your Assistive Technology Update.

Josh Anderson:
Hello, and welcome to your Assistive Technology Update, a weekly dose of information that keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist individuals with disabilities and special needs. I’m your host, Josh Anderson, with the INDATA project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. Welcome to episode 562 of Assistive Technology Update. It’s scheduled to be released on March 4th, 2022. On today’s show, we’re super excited to have Albert Manero on from Limbitless Solutions to talk about the amazing things that they’re doing. We also have a couple of quick stories about Microsoft accessibility, Nike accessibility, and accessible workplaces. Let’s go ahead and get on with the show.

Josh Anderson:
First story today comes from a blog over at microsoft.com, and the title of it is From Empowering Frontline Workers to Accessibility Improvements, Here’s What’s New in Office 365. This talks about some different things in here. It talks about empowering frontline workers and some things that they’ve done to try to make it a little bit easier on them. But if we scroll down a little while, we get to Create Content That Everyone Can Use. So a couple things that Office 365 is building in, in order to make this a little bit easier, one thing that they’re rolling out is a new option to run accessibility checker in the background. So while you’re working in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, you can actually have the accessibility checker running in the background the entire time. This will help flag accessibility issues so that you can correct them as you’re working, as opposed to just running it at the end, going back and doing things like adding alt text or slide titles or different stuff like that.

Josh Anderson:
They’ve also wrote out a couple things for Teams. So if you use Microsoft Teams, this is a collaboration thing. So you can share pictures, instant message, video chat, do a lot of different kinds of things in here, but they have added the ability for users to provide alt text for images that they share in Microsoft Teams chat channels. It says that this feature is coming for Mac operating systems soon, but is only available on Windows right now. It says that Excel now provides screen reader users with automatic alt text for charts and pivot charts. And these are generated on demand at the point the screen reader reaches the object to ensure that it’s based on the most recent data. So that’s pretty cool. I know a lot of times, if you do put that alt text behind there yourself, and then you go back and change something, it may or may not update. So that’s really great that it does actually sit there and be able to help you that way.

Josh Anderson:
A couple of other things that they’ve changed in Microsoft Teams. So one thing is that there’s a live transcript available. You can also, whenever you record meetings, you can actually have a transcript of it, or you can listen to the recording and change the speed of it. So you can do halftime up to two times, so slow things down, speed things up. So if you’ve got someone, perhaps like me, who maybe talks a little too fast sometimes, you can slow it down a little bit. It says that also if you’re listening to the recordings, they’re indexed based on slide transition. So if someone is doing a PowerPoint presentation or something else that involves slides, when you’re going back to listen to the transcript, you can actually go back based on the slides.

Josh Anderson:
So if there’s maybe a few opening ones, you can skip over those and get to the content that you really do need. So there’s a couple of other things in here that just talk about some productivity tools, again, some things they’re doing to empower frontline workers, but it’s nice to know that they are keeping accessibility there front of mind. So we’ll put a link to the story over in the show notes, so you can go check it out for yourself.

Josh Anderson:
Our next story comes to us from HYPEBEAST, and it’s Nike Introduces Flyease Tech For Kids With Dynamo Go Sneaker and Play Pack Apparel. This talks about a line from Nike called Flyease. Now, if you’ve never heard of these, what they are is they’re adaptive shoes, then they also have some kind of clothing as well. So the Flyease line was actually debuted in 2015, and then in 2021, the Flyease Go was created. And it says here that it rewrote the ways we interact with shoes, specifically for those who require something easier to slip on and off. So essentially, there may be some different kind of features, including a collapsible heel that can bounce back and still hold on for individuals who are not able to get their shoes on in the normal way of pulling them on tying them up and everything.

Josh Anderson:
And as we all know, some slip-on shoes, the back just caves in. They’re very difficult to actually get on. You do need to be able to bend over and usually use your hands to be able to get those on. So what they’re doing is they’re actually expanding this line to work with kids who need this kind of adaptation. So as we read through this story, it talks a little bit more about empowering children, kids who don’t know how to tie their shoes, giving them the power to be able to put on their shoes themselves. But really, these are a great adaptation for individuals with disabilities or different abilities who really need to be able to do these things independently.

Josh Anderson:
As I said, these shoes are pretty cool. They’ve been out for a little while, but they’re expanding them to kids. There’s also a talk that this kind of technology, this Flyease technology is going to be expanded into other shoe lines. So I believe Converse Chuck Taylors are going to be getting it soon, and maybe some others. So that’ll be really great that you’re not limited to one kind of shoe if you need this kind of adaptation, but maybe it’s actually an accommodation that’s available on, hopefully, a lot of different shoes here in the future so that you can have some choice. You can get different colors, different brands, and other things like that.

Josh Anderson:
So there’s not a whole ton of information in the story, but it is very cool. And I do know that adaptive footwear has been something we’ve been looking for a really long time. I mean, I remember seeing Back To The Future Part Two when I was younger and seeing those self-tying shoes and not being able to wait until they could come, and there’s different other ones out there. These are not the only things available, but it is good that Nike is expanding these adaptive footwears to different sizes, different brands, and different styles so that folks can, again, really choose what it is that they want to wear, but also have the ability to actually independently put those on and change them themselves. We’ll put a link to this story over in our show notes.

Josh Anderson:
Our final story today I guess I could chalk up to something we’ve probably talked about on here quite a few times, and freely, for any individual listening who has a disability, works with folks with disabilities, works in assistive technology, employment services, special education or anything like that, there’s probably not going to be a whole lot new in this story. Sometimes I do include these just because it’s good to see them in the news cycle, and I hope to continue to see them in the new cycle, not just a big influx of them, and then they fade in the background. But also this one does talk about some new, I guess, ideas, some different stats, and again, it’s just always good to see in there. So this comes to us from Forbes, and it’s titled, Blind People Stagnating at Work Due to Inaccessible Technology, Says New Study.

Josh Anderson:
It’s written by Gus Alexiou. And again, this is no real new information for those of us that work in this field or individuals with disabilities who have dealt with this in the workplace. So the study was carried out by the American Federation For The Blind, and its findings are that employees with sight loss continue to be hampered in carrying out the bare essential of their job by their employer’s lack of knowledge and commitment to digital accessibility. And it says, and I’m quoting here, but, “For those who possess a limited awareness of the topic, digital accessibility is more often than not purely framed through the narrow prism of the lack of access to outward consumer-facing websites.” So if we really think about that, there has been a big push to make websites more accessible so that your consumers can find it and be able to access information. But are these companies really taking that same time to look inward?

Josh Anderson:
And I’m sure that many of you have probably dealt with this before, proprietary software, different databases where perhaps a screen reader can can’t identify anything on the screen because there’s really, for the screen reader, nothing on that screen. I’m sure we’ve all probably tabbed around and heard things like form field, or just this, this, this, but nothing’s labeled. Those labels aren’t built into that code behind the scenes. And with it being proprietary software, sometimes that can be a real challenge to fix. There is always different kind of scripting you can do with things like JAWS or maybe NVDA, which are different screen reader programs, but that can be expensive. It can be hard to find someone who can do it, and those scripts only work until they change that software again. And then suddenly they don’t. So really, it needs to be done by the software manufacturer.

Josh Anderson:
So anyway, this study, which drew data from 323 participants with vision impairments in employment in February, 2021 with 25 of the participants undergoing in-depth interviews. Peers being surveyed with this comprised the use of technology for hiring and onboarding, day-to-day productivity, and training and interactions with IT staff and managers. So it says, “59% of participants reported facing accessibility challenges when completing onboarding forms on paper, and 48% reported challenges with electronic onboarding forms. 25% of participants said they cannot fully access training modules. This impacted their productivity and sense of inclusion in the workplace. Among folks who were self-employed almost 20% reported being passed up for a contract or having a contract terminated due to inaccessible software, such as screen sharing, PDF documents, or proprietary databases.” They even have some horror stories in here about people being fired for using their magnifier because their boss didn’t want their clients to know that this individual had a visual impairment.

Josh Anderson:
Now that’s not always the norm, but these horror stories do happen. There is that bias out there. There is that, oh, long-held idea that individuals with disabilities can’t do things that everyone else can do. And again, a lot of us probably that work in this field forget that that’s out there, but for individuals with disabilities trying to work, I’m sure that this is a constant thought. This is a constant thing that comes up while it may not come up every day. I’m sure that has to be a thought in your back of your mind that, “Are these people going to judge me differently because of my different abilities?”

Josh Anderson:
It has a couple things on here that they can do. And I’m not going to read the entire story to you, but it does talk a little bit about how a move to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic actually started to level the playing field a little bit because everybody had to do things in a new way, and it seemed to make things work a little bit better. It also says that corporations should be encouraged to be more overt and take positive action in their commitment to workplace accessibility. And they can do this by publishing and implementing their accessibility and accommodations policies online so that those are always there. And then, of course, publishing something online, making the policy doesn’t actually get it done. So actually doing it and getting it done.

Josh Anderson:
And then I’ve got to read a quote down here from one study participant that says, “Every computer science IT studies student, et cetera, should have their screen and mouse taken away for a week and have to use screen readers or other adaptive software so that accessibility is taken seriously.” I think that’s a great idea. I mean, especially if you’re a computer science IT programming major, all those different kinds of things, this is something you might not think about. You might be laser-focused on coding on the different parts of your study in order to get a job in that field. But if you can put this in those individuals’ minds, then hopefully the next generation of proprietary softwares of computers, of computer programs will have all this stuff just built in. It’ll be front of mind and keeping them thinking about those things.

Josh Anderson:
So I’ll put a link to this story over in the show notes so that you can go check it out for yourself. Again, I know a lot of this is not new information to folks, but it is good that it is getting in the public eye. And again, some of the findings of this study are a little bit shocking, that we’re still at about 50% of individuals that have difficulty accessing the basic things they need to do, to do their job on a daily basis.

Josh Anderson:
Listeners, today I have a riddle for you. What do you get when you mix science, engineering, art, and a drive to empower others? Well, you end up with something that looks a whole lot like our guest today. Today, we’re pleased to welcome Albert Manero, Executive Director of Limbitless Solutions. And he’s here to tell us all about their program that is helping create and distribute bionic arms and change the lives of those that use them. Albert, welcome to the show.

Albert Manero:
Thank you for having me.

Josh Anderson:
Yeah. I’m really excited to get into talking about Limbitless Solutions and everything that you all do. But before we do that, could you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Albert Manero:
Absolutely. So I am Albert Manero from the University of Central Florida, and I run the Limbitless Solutions organization, and we are focused on developing empowerment tools, including prosthetics that both capture the expression and the art component of that human condition, as well as the technology side to empower it.

Josh Anderson:
Excellent. And let’s talk about Limbitless Solutions. First of all, when did this all come about?

Albert Manero:
It really started back in 2014, and I was actually in a car and I was late to work and there was this interview on the radio with the people building the first 3D printed mechanical hands. And they were emailing the files around the world in an effort to be able to improve the design and help people everywhere. And I came into my research lab at the time and said, “I want to be a part of this. How can I help?” And fast forwarding seven years later, we are now a full nonprofit and have a team of about five staff members and 40 undergraduate student researchers who are working to advance the technology and the art every day.

Josh Anderson:
Excellent. Tell me a little bit about your undergraduate researchers, because usually when you think of this kind of project, you really think of maybe engineering or something like that. But you have a pretty varied base of students and folks working for you. Tell me a little bit about that.

Albert Manero:
It became clear early on that an engineering approach only exclusively would not get us to where we wanted to be, and from that reason, we started to put together the team to include all the other disciplines that you would normally find in the industry from the arts to the engineering, the computer science, to the game design aspect. And we started to layer that into the program in an effort to best be able to deliver our mission, and if that meant the training side, it meant bringing in those components all the way down to that human experience, all the way throughout the process. The work at Limbitless could not be done without so many other individuals who are doing the art. They’re doing the design work, and I’m so appreciative for all their contributions that are ultimately changing the lives of these bionic kids.

Josh Anderson:
That’s awesome. And I know this is an audio show, so it’s a little bit harder, but describe these prosthetics to me.

Albert Manero:
So they’re a little noisy. You can hear them in our videos, but they look very little like a prosthetic that you might be imagining in your head. And the first thing we ask people is, “What does that look like in your head?” Traditionally, it’s that doll plastic looking device or something that approximates human skin, close, but always leaves that little bit of an uncanny valley. And I would describe our prosthetics as unapologetically non-human. And so they are designed to approximate the human shape, but they are visually expressive and aesthetic. And each of the 3D geometries are interchangeable from our structural core. So we have a variety of different designs, including partnerships with the video game franchise, League of Legends or the Halo video game franchise, where we take those characters and the armor from those characters and we turn it into the real version of that on a prosthetic.

Josh Anderson:
Oh, that’s really cool. I know most prosthetics have, oh, different are degrees of how much control an individual has, as they’re wearing them. Where do these lie? If I was an individual who maybe needed the prosthetic, first of all, oh, what kind of level of arm do I still need to have? And then what am I able to do with it once I’m fitted and have one?

Albert Manero:
These devices are designed for an age range of six to 17. And that, in and of itself, is a pretty big gap to be able to communicate how to use the device. The devices start out with a single gesture, electromyography setup. And so when they flex their bicep muscle or the muscle closest to their amputation, and that tells the computer chip in the hand to be able to do the different gestures. The basics, they start out with an open and close. So when they flex the muscle, the hand will open, and then when they flex it again, it will close. And then as they play their video game training platform, they level up in the game and then subsequently we can level up their bionic arm so that they can then do multi gesture, including open and close, pinch, and point mode.

Josh Anderson:
Awesome. And you brought up something I wanted to bring up later, but tell me about the video game training because I think that’s really cool. And I know, especially with the age group you’re talking about, not always maybe the best at doing the homework of working with stuff. So tell me a little bit about the video game training component.

Albert Manero:
Oh, we certainly design for simplicity given our audience’s age and being able to meet them where they are at. And I think that was a real priority early on. With the training system, being able to have a video game helped us hide the vegetables for kids learning how to use their prosthetic, but it also creates a stress-free environment where they can practice using the electromyography sensor in a way that there’s no embarrassment from not being proficient at it on day one. And I think that was a real game changer for us.

Josh Anderson:
No, that’s really awesome. Albert, tell me about your clinical trials or how someone gets involved in with Limbitless Solutions.

Albert Manero:
As we continue to develop the device, our aims are to eventually get FDA approval for the prosthetic. In the interim, while we’re doing the research, we’re providing the arms through a couple different clinical trials across the country where patients are able to provide feedback on the arms. We’ll be able to evaluate how they’re improving it, and it really gives us that opportunity when you’re taking something from an engineer’s table to a medical environment, you learn a lot of things. And so we’re continuing to perfect what we do, and the hope is that it’ll be ready for everyone later on.

Josh Anderson:
This is just a hair off subject, but I know during the COVID-19 pandemic, stay at home orders, a lot of us had to pivot and change the way that we did things. And then just reading about your organization, everything I found, you guys did some pretty interesting stuff during COVID-19 and pivot what you were doing. Can you tell me about what you guys were doing during that time?

Albert Manero:
Well, we were certainly very grateful that we had already developed our mobile calibration apps that the parents could recalibrate without coming back to the research facility. So that definitely made it easier for them to maintain the prosthetic remotely, and then being able to do basically contactless shipping back and forth and pickups from their house with FedEx was a huge help. While our production team had extra bandwidth, and there wasn’t a lot of activity in the facility, we were able to switch our 3D printers pretty much overnight to be able to create those face shields for local hospitals. There was a big shortage at the time, and we knew that there was probably an eight-week period before the traditional manufacturing could catch up, and they needed additional supplies or at least additional reserves. And so that’s what we were able to do. And we helped inscribe on those face shield components words of appreciation for our first responders.

Josh Anderson:
Nice. That’s awesome. Yeah. Still being able to keep up production and still be able to do things, but yeah, just pivot to what’s actually needed at the time. That’s very, very cool. Now, besides just what we’ve already talked about, I found a couple other things. Could you tell me a little bit about the comic book that was developed?

Albert Manero:
Yeah, the comic book has been a really fun part of the program that we’ve been able to expand on. And I mentioned that we brought in all of these other perspectives from our university, and that includes the School of Visual Arts and Design and faculty who are artists, traditional artists and digital artists being able to produce that. But one of our bionic kids expressed wanting to pay it forward and be able to communicate some of their story of growing up with a limb difference and then what it was like getting the prosthetic, but to also be able to try to raise money to support other people in that situation. And so our artists went to work to be able to capture that family stories, and the faculty and students helped draw, and the comic books are now available where you would normally get your comic books online, and you can look at thebionickid.com website for more information.

Josh Anderson:
That’s great. What about Project Xavier? Can you tell me a little bit about that project?

Albert Manero:
Project Xavier is definitely a fun new project that we’re working towards. We wanted to leverage the same technology that the bionic arms use, but to be able to help a different patient group. And so the arm technology is really good at being able to capture the intentionality of a user and be able to tell a machine to do something. And so we apply that, but on the face muscles for patients, in particular for ALS, who can’t use their joystick on their wheelchair. And by putting these sensors on their forehead, we were able to convert those jaw muscle flexes, the intentionality, to be able to completely drive a wheelchair across the room. And for many patients, that’s the difference of having to remain idle until an attendant would drive you to where you needed to be and being able to roll across the room to your spouse and have a conversation or ask for some water. And that can have a huge effect on their autonomy and perhaps even their quality of life.

Josh Anderson:
Oh, definitely. That independence is a major your thing. So the more different ways you have to access that, the more folks that can definitely be helped. Albert, I’m sure you probably have tons of these, but could you tell me a story about someone that you’ve been able to work with through this program and how it’s affected them?

Albert Manero:
Yeah. So there are certain families we’ve worked with for many years. And in my mind’s eye, I can remember back to there was a young bionic girl who received her bionic arm from Winter The Dolphin at the Clearwater Aquarium, and the bionic arm was hidden in the cooler for the fish where Winter was feeding. And this young girl goes in to get the fish from the cooler and then realize that this is not fish. This is something totally different. And we just had this really incredible moment of her being able to interact with the dolphin, and Winter the Dolphin wore a prosthetic on its tail.

Albert Manero:
It just really brought it together of this sense of belonging and that life finds a way to adapt and to build tools, and that there was an aesthetic and there was a beauty to the prosthetic. And so I think that story has really stuck with me of the resilience of our bionic kids, with or without the prosthetic, that they are perfectly made and are able to accomplish all of their dreams. And we just hope the prosthetic helps give them a platform to express themselves and makes it, as a tool, a little bit easier to do certain tasks.

Josh Anderson:
And I love that delivery method, too. That’s absolutely great. So Albert, what’s next? I know you guys are working on FDA approval, but what’s next for the program or where do you see it going here in the future?

Albert Manero:
I think for us we are hopeful to launch a couple new clinical trials to be able to continue to evaluate the progress of the design of the arms, as well as fully understand how they’re being used in the wild. And the wild could be a playground, it could be around the house, and really trying to find that everyday use cases. We are excited because I think as we get more and more patients involved, that’s what we’re going to learn the most towards our ultimate goal of being able to provide these to any family that wants one.

Josh Anderson:
Very, very cool. Well, Albert, if our listeners want to find out more about you, about Limbitless Solutions, about all the great things that you all do, what’s the best way for them to do that?

Albert Manero:
Absolutely. They can find out more information at our website, 3Dhope.com.

Josh Anderson:
All right, perfect. We will put a link to that down in the show notes so that folks can easily find that and find out more as they want to. Well, Albert, thank you so much for coming on today and telling us about the really cool things that you all are doing at Limbitless Solutions.

Albert Manero:
Thank you. So appreciative to be here.

Josh Anderson:
Do you have a question about assistive technology? Do you have a suggestion for someone we should interview on an Assistive Technology Update? If so, call our listener line at (317)-721-7124. Send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org, or shoot us a note on Twitter @INDATAproject. Our captions and transcripts for the show are sponsored by the Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation, or InTRAC. You can find out more about InTRAC at relayindiana.com.

Josh Anderson:
A special thanks to Nicole [Prieto 00:26:37] for scheduling our amazing guest and making a mess of my schedule. Today’s show was produced, edited, hosted, and fraught over by yours truly. The opinions expressed by our guests are their own and may or may not reflect those of the INDATA Project, Easterseals Crossroads, our supporting partners, or this host. This was your Assistive Technology Update, and I’m Josh Anderson with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. We look forward to seeing you next time. Bye-bye.