Multi-touch tables bring therapeutic games within reach

For children with cerebral palsy, routine occupational therapy sessions that require repetitive stretching and reaching exercises can seem like a chore.

Using state-of-the-art touch-screen technology, though, word games, piano keyboards, and even fingerpainting can be integrated with therapy in a way that is both engaging and medically beneficial.

The Scientist's Discovery Room (SDR) Lab at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has been collaborating with Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Harvard Medical School to bring the technology to young patients.

With games that encourage kids to reach up and manipulate objects on the multi-touch screen, the SDR Lab's technology is improving the options available in clinical settings for children who need to work on upper-body motor skills.

Vector, an innovation blog produced at Children's Hospital Boston, wrote about a recent technology demo there.

Read the full article at Vector