Technological innovations: an opportunity for people with disabilities

Disability remains a cause of exclusion in many areas: mobility, education, professional integration, communication, social ties, leisure, health … It affects 12 million people, or almost 20% of the population. It is also, according to INSEE, the first reason for discrimination in France in 2018. For these people, the main challenges are: improving their living conditions and real integration into life in society. Can new technologies provide a solution? This is the question that a growing number of companies are trying to answer with their innovative digital solutions.

Digital in the service of disability

Today, thanks to advances in robotics and artificial intelligence, new perspectives are open to people with disabilities to compensate for their loss of autonomy and improve their daily lives. Visual impairment, hearing impairment, paralysis of certain limbs … Whatever its origin: motor, cognitive, psychic, mental or sensory … New technologies are taking a giant step forward and are a real hope for millions of people. From the simple mobile application that lists places accessible by wheelchair, to bionic members there is only one step! All these innovations offer people with disabilities concrete prospects for improving their daily lives.

smart health connected objects concrete use to facilitate everyday life

The small tasks of everyday life such as brushing your teeth or closing the shutters seem simple to us, but for a person with a disability, they are a real challenge. smart health connected objects can therefore prove to be very useful, even vital! A smart health connected watch to help people with autism become more independent; another in Braille for the blind; a bracelet that emits ultrasound to help the visually impaired to find their way in space, shoes and a cane smart health connected to move more easily … Far from the simple gadget, these objects are revolutionary and allow to relieve and improve significantly the comfort and autonomy of people with disabilities.

The limits of these technological innovations

Despite these remarkable advances, disability is a very segmented niche market for which there is still a long way to go:

All disabilities are not the same, each case is different and there is no solution that can really adapt to all.

• A niche market is a constraint for manufacturers who cannot combine high R&D expenses, and a market of sufficient size to offer accessible prices

• Accessibility to certain technologies is uneven because it is very expensive.

• smart health connected objects and new technologies facilitate and make disability more comfortable on a daily basis, but do not really change the way people look at disability. Integration into society is therefore not complete.

3 questions to Mélina KOURATORAS co-founder of Handiplanet, a collaborative and social application allowing travelers with reduced mobility to share their opinion on the accessibility of places.

How did you come up with the idea for Handiplanet?

A few years ago, my brother Emmanuel and I wanted to organize a trip to Greece for the holidays. Being myself with reduced mobility, I wanted to inquire about the accessibility of the places so that my trip went well. I found myself facing a big lack of information and the little that we find is often wrong. Like me, 36 million people with disabilities are reluctant to travel solely for lack of reliable sources. When we returned from our trip, it was obvious that we embarked on the project and created: Handiplanet, a travel guide coupled with a social network allowing you to share your accessibility notice according to your mobility!

In your opinion, do smart health connected objects have a real impact on improving the living conditions of people with disabilities?

I don’t specifically use smart health connected devices in my everyday life, except maybe a smartwatch, but I do know that it significantly improves the daily lives of many people with disabilities. For example: eye tracking, which allows people with impaired language and motor skills, to have a real conversation with those around them, it's great! Other objects like anti-decubitus cushions for people in wheelchairs really improve the comfort of their user. All of these innovations are great and are becoming almost vital … However, many of these innovations seem inaccessible to people with disabilities. The costs are significant and in reality few can afford it.

In the future, what would be the smart health connected objects to set up to integrate disabled people socially into the life of society?

I have no particular idea or domain in particular … For me it is more the state, communities, urban planning to adapt to allow people with disabilities to fully integrate into the life of the society. I realize that all this is expensive, takes time and it first goes through an education and awareness phase. We really have to shake up mentalities! It is up to the younger generations to develop society in this direction. There is a lot of work to do …

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