Robotics for Tremor: Liftware

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Tremor is an involuntary movement of the hands, normally caused by some type neurological dysfunction. This can be seen in diseases such as Parkinson’s disease or stemming from unknown causes, such as with essential tremor. When this involves intentional tremor, the more focused your activity is, the worse the tremor can become. and it can feel like the curse of movement. For those with Parkinsonian or essential tremor, difficulty performing simple daily tasks such as eating are a constant challenge as a person struggles to complete a simple task such as keep food on a fork.  While we don’t think about it usually, the act of balancing food on a utensil and bringing that food to your mouth requires accuracy and precision that is difficult to achieve when your hand is increasingly shaking. Recently acquired by Google, Liftware has created a spoon with a motor and sensors which addresses this problem by steadying the spoon as it is brought to the mouth. Designed for helping in holding, eating, and transferring tasks, Liftware has shown to decrease tremor amplitude by up to 76%. This is huge for someone whose hand shakes so badly when they are eating that they are unable to place food in their mouth, and allows for a smoother transition of both bringing food from plat to mouth, as well as transferring the food from utensil to mouth. Liftware works by activating the sensors in the spoon and using them to turn on a motor which helps the spoon counteract the movement of the tremor. Essentially, the spoon detects unnecessary movement, and tries to cancel it out by moving in the opposite direction. Simple, and amazing. Best fit for mild to moderate tremors, Liftware is available for purchase through their website. The entire kit comes with a handle, soup spoon attachment, charger and pouch. Other attachments are available for purchase as well through the site. Watch the video below for a demonstration.