Dream-Racer goes live ...: Blog

New switch adapted Dream-Toys

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:36:43 GMT

We started with three now we have six and in September there will be nine switch adapted Dream-Toys.

This is the link to the six sensory and switch adapted toys we have available now and this link is to the three musical Dream-Toys we selected for Christmas 2008.

I'll be updating this post as soon as the videos of the new toys: Allie G, Sharpie and Arnold the snoring pig are uploaded to Google.

Dream-Toys part of Play AT IT

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:17:03 GMT

Interest in the switch adapted toys has been amazing. But what really made our day was when Tracy at Ability Net told us she wanted them to be part of the "Play AT IT" project she is leading.

I copied this from the Play AT IT project description:

"The Play AT IT project is funded by the Big Lottery and aims to provide play options and inclusion for children with disabilities in 18 nurseries in disadvantaged areas across 9 geographical regions of England. Each nursery will receive a complete Assistive Technology kit, including hardware and software, to provide inclusive play opportunities to children with disabilities."

Mike

Switch adapted toys for Christmas 2008

Tue, 20 May 2008 17:30:34 GMT

Fact: there are only 218 shopping days before Christmas Day 2008.

So why mention this in May? The answer is that any supplier wanting to source products for Christmas 2008 should have done so already.

Perhaps we are a little late getting organised but it's certainly not too late for us to jump on the bandwagon. We've had a lot of guidance from Karen our toy supplier, and based on her recommendations we've pre-selected four electrical soft-toys that we'll switch adapt for Christmas 2008. We'll be taking delivery in four months and they'll appear on the Dream-Racer web site in September alongside the three switch adapted toys available now.

These are the four we have selected:

The first is “Hip Hop Randy”. He is around 35cm tall and plays “Hip Hop Jingle Bells” while his arms, hips, mouth and head move.

The second is Storytime Bear”. He is around 40cm tall and his head and mouth move as he reads the Christmas story “Twas the night before Christmas”

The third is Goober. He is 33cm tall. His bells light up and his arms move up and down as he sings “Jingle Bell Rock”

The fourth is a “Rotating Christmas Tree”. It is around 35cm tall. As it rotates, it plays “O’ Christmas Tree” and bulbs on the branches light up.

Leave us a message if you are interested and would like to reserve one.

Mike

Domino CE approved ... production in June

Thu, 15 May 2008 14:59:40 GMT

About a week ago I described a new project we had underway called "Domino". Just to recap, Domino is a large button, switch adapted, TV remote designed for people with limited hand and finger movement or those that have difficulty seeing and using a remote with small buttons.

Development work is complete and it has been CE certified.

Over the next three weeks we will be gearing-up to produce Domino for sales in June.

Although we started out with the idea of producing a TV remote Domino is able to do much more. It can learn the infra-red (IR) codes of most TV, DVD, video remotes on the UK market. In addition, it can learn the IR codes used to control, for example, automated doors and windows plus many other IR adapted environmental equipment found in the home.

We plan to produce a range of Domino-IR devices including a version for Sky, Sky Plus and Freeview receivers all with large button layouts to help navigate the on-screen electronic programme guide these systems use.

Project Domino - large button switch adapted TV remotes

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:44:54 GMT

The change over from analogue to digital TV broadcasting in the UK will have a significant impact on how viewers watch TV. All users - disabled as well as able bodied - will need to select TV programmes and schedule recordings using an on-screen electronic programming guide, or EPG for short.

Anyone using a Sky or Freeview set top box will already be using an EPG accessed through the remote that came with their receiver.

But, individuals with limited hand and finger dexterity will likely find it difficult to press the small buttons on standard remotes and, instead, may prefer to use an adapted device to operate their TV and Sky or Freeview receiver. Moving to an on-screen electronic programming guide will likely make it more difficult for these individuals to access their favourite programmes.

To address this issue we have started work on a switch adapted, larger button, remote that will help disabled individuals work the EPG on their digital TV, Sky, Sky Plus, or Freeview receivers and recorders.

We've called the device "Domino". Over the next month or so we will complete the development work and CE testing. Our goal is to have units available commercially in time for the Beijing Olympics in August 2008.

These are pictures of the working prototypes we have built so far. Both are programmable infra-red units that can "learn" the codes from an existing controller. Any standard 3.5 mm switch can be connected and used in preference or alongside the big Domino buttons.

The unit pictured left can control six functions on four separate devices such as TV, DVD, video recorder and satellite receiver. The unit pictured right has a dedicated layout of the main buttons found on a Sky Box.

I'll describe their functions and operation in more detail in my next post.

Mike

Dream-Melody approved by The Soundbeam Project Ltd.

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:22:09 GMT

Engineers at The Soundbeam Project Ltd., Bristol, UK, have approved Dream-Melody as suitable for use with Soundbeam equipment.

Soundbeam has been most extensively and thoroughly evaluated with children with Severe Learning Difficulties and Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities.

Dream-Melody consists of a cap containing three motion sensors and a switch box. Movement of the head - forwards, left and right - triggers the Soundbeam equipment allowing the user to create a range of musical expressions.

Mike

Naidex week at NEC

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:39:45 GMT

This week Naidex 2008 get underway at the NEC, Birmingham. This is an excerpt from the official web site:

"As the UK’s largest event for homecare, disability and rehabilitation, Naidex is your best opportunity to touch, test and compare all the latest new products and services available."

Naidex 2007 was the event we chose to launch Dream-Racer with support from QED our UK distributor. This year QED will be showing our new range of switch adapted Dream-Toys, as well as Dream-Racer and they will have information available covering all the other Dream-Products we have developed for disabled and special needs individuals. (Dream-Mouse, Dream-Gamer, Dream-Melody)

We've also planned a meeting with BSKYB to discuss a new TV product. We now have a switch adapted TV remote that works the on-screen electronic programme guide (EPG) used in a Sky receiver. We think this will create a lot of interest from Sky subscribers that have difficulty using the regular remote.

Next we plan to begin work on an adapted remote for digital set-top boxes that deliver the Freeview service.

Dream-Melody making music ...

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:16:20 GMT

In January we met up with Tim from The Soundbeam Project Ltd. We'd never met before and I think he was a little surprised when we asked if we could plug some new kit into his Soundbeam equipment.

Just in case you don't know what Soundbeam is or does take a look at their web site. But, in essence it is musical equipment that uses sensors to translate body movement into digitally generated sounds and images.

Here's the connection: Soundbeam uses body movement and our new kit, we call it Dream-Melody, is a trio of motion sensitive switches activated by head movement.

Plugging Dream-Melody directly into the Soundbeam equipment allows users to create music through head movement.

Two minutes later, Roger, a music teacher at Woodlands Special Needs School, Plymouth, walked onto the stand and saw what we had and wanted to have a go. He got really excited about the possibility it could open up for some of his students. I don't remember whether he asked or we volunteered it but Roger took Dream-Melody back to Woodlands with him.

A few weeks later he sent us some pictures of his students in a music session using Dream-Melody and some suggestions for improvements.

Since them we've completed the design and Tim is taking it to the Soundbeam user forum later this month to demonstrate it to a larger group. More to follow.

Mike

Switch adapted Dream-Toys

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:08:08 GMT

The Pre-school Learning Alliance is a leading educational charity specialising in the early years. The Alliance provides practical support to over 15,000 early years settings and makes a positive contribution to the care and education of over 800,000 young children and their families each year.

Each year the Alliance organises a conference and a series of workshops to illustrate best practise in early years care.

This years programme included four workshops presented by Pat Atkinson from the National Association of Toy & Leisure Libraries. Pat's workshop was all about "Switched Play".

I had the opportunity to meet with Pat and loan her a series of switched adapted toys to support her workshops. These are Pat's comments on the event:

In the “Switched Play” workshop at the PLA Inclusion conference I had planned to demonstrate my usual stock of performing animals with pressure switches and a latching & timing box, and a collection of simple radio controlled vehicles with different controllers. The chance to try the Dream-Racer car and performing animals with the games controller added an exciting extra dimension to the event. These new items brought me up to date and showed that hat control is a wonderful addition to the range of switched play options for children with physical impairments. Now I need to refine the head action to reduce the chaos that my car playing creates. Maybe a slower vehicle could be added to the range?

Pat Atkinson, Trainer for the National Association of Toy & Leisure Libraries. March 2008.

Mike

Dream-Toys video links

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:22:15 GMT

A few weeks ago we started to work on a series of switch adapted toys for young (3 to 7 years) children. We've had a lot of fun with these little guys and so we decided to share some videos on Google.

These are the links:

I'm meeting the supplier at the end of March to figure out what will be in the Dream-Toys catalogue on the Dream-Racer web site.

Mike

Blackfriars School, Staffordshire

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:03:02 GMT

Recently I received an invitation to visit the Blackfriars School in Newcastle. Gillian, Daniels mum, prompted the invite by telling Glynis, one the the teachers at the school about the Dream-Gamer we gave Danny last Christmas.

I took this extract from the school web site.

"Blackfriars School is a large special school of 180 pupils from the age of 2 to 19 with a range of physical, learning, medical and sensory needs who come from North and Central Staffordshire and the Unitary Authority of Stoke-on-Trent. The School is dual sited, with pupils aged 2 – 16 years educated on the site in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Post 16 education is based in Bucknall, some six miles away in the City of Stoke-on-Trent. Blackfriars has built an expertise in providing Alternative and Augmentative Communication for pupils and students who require support with communication."

My first visit was to the Newcastle site. The first thing we did was to show the younger pupils some of the switch adapted toys we are working on. The yellow chick singing about "taking a bath" was a big hit as well as Shrek doing his dance.

Danny joined us and showed everyone his skills by driving a Dream-Racer Toyota Supra car around the hall. That was until Jason, one of the teachers, wanted a go and it seemed to get "confiscated" for the rest of the break time.

Just a few days ago I went along to the senior school in Bucknall and took the switch we've designed for connecting to Soundbeam equipment. If you're not familiar with Soundbeam take a look at their web site it's a really amazing piece of kit for making music through body movement.

We've decided to call the switch Dream-Melody - I'll be writing more about this over then next few weeks.

Mike

Switch adapted toys

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:05:12 GMT

I recently took a call from someone asking if we had any switch adapted toys designed for young children with special needs. I told her about Dream-Racer and Dream-Gamer but she was looking for toys designed with a younger age group in mind. Ideally for children aged 3 to 7 years old.

As we spoke it became clear that this person was finding it difficult to source stimulating toys designed for young partially sighted, hard-of-hearing children other special needs.

That got us going and since them I've visited the toy section at Spring Fair and Mark has been investigating how to make switch adapted toys. Dancing Shrek is the first toys we have adapted

I've sourced four more electrical toys that we are sure we can modify to make switch accessible.

Take a look at the Shrek video at the top of the blog and the pictures of the switch adapted Dream-Toys we will have available once our modifications have been CE certified.

Mother bear recites nursery rhymes, worker bear sings "working on the railroad", Yellow chic sings "splish splash taking a bath" while dancing and white rabbit sings "bunny hop rock" and flaps his ears in time to the music.

I'm sure we'll have lots of fun working with these guys ...

Mike

BETT 2008 video link

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:38:09 GMT

This is the link to the video produced by the organisers of BETT 2008.

http://eventsreview.com/clients/bett/2008/review/

New Dream-Partner ... Chris

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:11:47 GMT

Anyone that has picked up on the earlier posts to this blog will know that in 2007 we had a very active product development programme underway.

We developed and commercialised Dream-Racer, Dream-Gamer and Dream-Mouse plus a range of other special Dream-Projects for children and young adults with physical disabilities.

Welcome Chris.

Chris is an electronics engineer working alongside Mark and developing his own adapted / assistive technology projects for disabled individuals.

One thing is certain, 2008 will be another busy year. We currently have four new assistive technology switch projects all at the proof-of-concept stage and we are only into early February.

I have two challenges:

Keeping up with all the new ideas being work on and,
Building up or sales and distribution network in Europe - initially in Germany, France and The Netherlands.

On a final note we have decided to produce a range of switch adapted toys for younger children - more on this later.

Mike

Launch of SpecialEffect charity

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:49:29 GMT

SpecialEffect is a new Oxfordshire based charitable organisation dedicated to helping ALL young people with disabilities to enjoy computer games.

Roadshow events are planned that will provide advice support and a chance for young people with disabilities to try out a range of empowering technology for themselves that will enable them to try and play the same games as their able bodied peers.

Young volunteers will be invited from Oxfordshire universities and youth organisations to share their gaming knowledge with the disabled young people they meet and be taught about the new gaming technology by SpecialEffect's experts.

Take a look at the SpecialEffect community on Facebook.

Barrie Ellis at Oneswitch.org told us about SpecialEffect and suggested we may like to get involved by donating a couple of Dream-Gamer adapted PlayStation controllers - they shipped today.

We are looking forward to taking part in some of the roadshows.

Mike

Hereward College - assistive technology workshop

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:04:34 GMT

Today over forty delegates from around the West Midlands gathered at Hereward College for discussions on the use of assistive technology for students with physical disabilities. Hereward College is a general college of further education located in Coventry, West Midlands offering day and residential support for disabled students. Hereward students include people with:

Physical disabilities including cerebral palsy, spina bifida and muscular dystrophy.
Sensory impairment (sight & hearing)
Learning difficulties.
Brain and spinal injuries.
Autism and Aspergers Syndrome.
Medical difficulties including epilepsy, asthma and other rare conditions.
Social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Hereward follows an academic and vocational curriculum designed to encourage students to act independently to prepare them for future employment and enterprise when their studies are complete.

Four students told the delegates about their experience of using assistive technology through a video interview. It was a fascinating insight for us all. Number one issue was that the assistive technology should assist and not get in the way of their expression. Secondly, it had to work reliably and thirdly it needed to look cool. Actually, none of these points are rocket science!

Many thanks to Paul Doyle and Patrick Fox for the invitation.

Mike

Special Dream-Projects

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:34:02 GMT

Since the launch of the Dream-Racer web site and blog we have been approached by lots of people asking for something different than the standard switches and other devices found in the assistive technology catalogues. These are just three of the "special projects" we worked on in 2007:

Alan wanted to talk about using Morse Code to communicate with an elderly relative - amazingly she still remembered it despite not using it in over 60 years.
Gillian had a problem with the wires on a standard switch. Every 3-4 months the cable frayed and eventually broke away requiring her to buy costly replacements.
Karl needed four switches to plug into his Joybox that he could control using his available head movement.

Gillian's switch problem was easy to fix as the mechanism worked perfectly; only the cable was broken. Reconnecting the wire saved about £15 over the cost of a new switch.

This got us thinking: there must be many people needing something a little bit different or possibly something repaired. If that's the case, we would like them to get in touch with us to describe their problem. We may be able to help.

Our contact details are on the web site or, send us a message through this blog.

Mike

A busy January ...

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:58:27 GMT

Only seventeen days into January but the Christmas and new year break seems, at best, a distant memory.

Last week we visited the BETT and Special Needs Fringe exhibitions in London to look for new ideas and share some of our own with prospective partners. QED, our UK distributor had a stand at the Special Needs event and had Dream-Racer on display along with a range of other assistive technology devices designed for individuals with physical disabilities. Dream-Gamer and Dream-Mouse will be on display at their future exhibitions.

Get in touch with QED if you would like to receive a copy of their 2008 catalogue "Innovative products for people with special needs."

Next week is an open day at the Hereward College in Coventry and we will be letting the students loose with Dream-Racer and Dream-Gamer. My plan for Dream-Mouse is to show how students can use it to better access the PC for school work (this may be popular with their teachers but could be a "big yawn" with the students.)

I'll have more to report on this next week.

Today's big news: we will participate in an initiative to promote gaming to a broader audience of disabled children and young adults using Dream-Gamer to access laptop, PlayStation and Xbox360 game platforms. The programme is scheduled to begin in February - keep in touch.

Mike

Dream-Racer available from Lazarus Mobility

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:23:21 GMT

In 2008 we will be working together with Stephen at Lazarus Mobility to launch a new series of product developments. In parallel, Stephen will also introduce Dream-Racer and the other Dream-Products for purchase through his e-commerce web site.

Lazarus Mobility (UK) Limited was founded by Stephen Collins - an individual with cerebral palsy - who knows from his own experience just how hard it can be for disabled people to obtain well designed, yet affordable, equipment to help live life to the full.

Stephen recognised that much of the disabled equipment available today through conventional retail outlets is both expensive and designed by able bodied engineers with only a limited understanding of the particular requirements of a disabled end-user.

It is his mission to redress the imbalance by providing cost effective access, through www.lazarusmobility.com to products for the disabled which have been personally selected, tested and endorsed by Stephen Collins himself.

We look forward to working with Stephen on all the new product ideas in the pipeline. He's already told us he has a long list ... it looks like 2008 will be another busy year!

Mike

Dream-Mouse passes CE tests

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:02:22 GMT

Despite a mis-behaving laptop, Dream-Mouse: an adapted PC controller, completed all of the testing this morning required to certify it as CE compliant.

Dream-Mouse will now move out of our development process and will be listed as a fully commercial product on the Dream-Racer web site.

Remploy have also completed their manufacturing audit and are ready to begin manufacturing it next week.

Stepping back for a moment of reflection; Dream-Mouse is the third product family we have designed, developed, CE tested and geared up for full scale manufacturing in 15 months.

Dream-Racer: radio controlled cars and trucks was launched in April. Dream-Gamer: an adapted PlayStation controller was commercialised in October.

And, 2008 will be equally exciting as we begin to move ahead with new life-style products for children and young adults with physical disabilities. Stay tuned.

Mike

Dream-Gamer on show at Kidz Up North exhibition

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 18:42:03 GMT

For six years Disabled Living have organised the very popular annual Kidz Up North exhibition in Bolton, Lancashire focusing on equipment, products and services for disabled children and their families.

This year we decided to support QED, our UK distributor, by demonstrating Dream-Gamer and Dream-Mouse alongside Dream-Racer to the visitors.

Mark organised the games on Dream-Gamer and I set up Dream-Mouse. Trying to compete with Dream-Gamer was impossible: all the kids, mums and dads thought gaming was a lot more fun.

Next time I'll set up one-switch gaming on the PC instead of a demo that looks too much like school work. I'll be contacting Barrie at One Switch.org for some tips.

Mike

Programming Dream-Wand

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:18:23 GMT

In my preparation for the visit to John Chilton School I assigned four mouse commands to the switches on Dream-Wand using Joystick-To-Mouse software. I found it comfortable to have "left mouse button", "enter", "double left click" and "right mouse button" on switches 1 through 4. Somehow, that suits me when I work with Dream-Mouse and Mini-Mouse.

A few minutes after Stephen started using it he said he wanted a different arrangement; one more to his preference and could we change it. Joystick-To-Mouse software is so flexible that within one minute we had re-mapped the switches completely.

The next student to try Dream-Wand, Alex, needed a different solution as well; he needed all the switches to work in the same way and I re-mapped all four switches to work the "left mouse button". This allowed him to concentrate more on the learning experience in the exercise than the switching itself which earlier had been getting in the way.

I also learnt how important it is, particularly to older students, for the equipment to appear discrete in order to avoid unwanted attention being drawn to the user. I didn't appreciate this when Sue originally invited me to visit John Chilton School but it's something we will be tuned into from now on.

Something else Sue showed me was "Orisinal". It's a superb site for one-switch and mouse control games designed with young children in mind. Try it.

Sue, I had a great day out and want to do it again.

Mike

Students evaluate Dream-Mouse

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:00:29 GMT

Recently I had a call from Sue, a teacher at John Chilton School in Northolt, London. Sue was interested in the Mini-Mouse we have been working on and asked if a few of her students could try it out.

John Chilton is a special school in the London Borough of Ealing. The school caters for pupils who have a physical and/or a medical disability.

We chose to run the demo on my laptop and use this blog post as a check on how well the students coped with the three Dream-Mouse input devices: Mini-Mouse, Pistol-Mouse and Cap-Mouse: each controlled by Joystick-To-Mouse software. We used the on-screen keyboard built into Windows XP for text entry.

This is what the students had to say about Dream-Mouse:

it is a wonderfull joystick among other things :) ... by Stephen

Dream-Mouse design complete

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:11:41 GMT

Design and development of Dream-Mouse is complete and it will be CE tested in November at Staffordshire University. Dream-Mouse is the third product we have worked on for folks with physical disabilities and we are very satisfied with the way it has come together.

At the start of the development we incorporated the same motion sensing electronics into Dream-Mouse as is used in both Dream-Racer and Dream-Gamer. The electronics capture head movements to control position of the cursor on the PC screen. But we've gone further; we realised we could use the same motion sensors in a hand grip that may be preferred by some users. We call these two options Cap-Mouse and Pistol-Mouse.

My personal favorite is Mini-Mouse. Effectively it is a mini joystick controlled by a single finger or thumb. Users have the option of holding it in either hand or it can be secured in a mounting bracket attached by Velcro to any flat surface - this eliminates the need to hold Mini-Mouse at the same time as using it. It works a treat! I'm sure we will incorporate the mini joystick concept into new concepts.

These three products give disabled users different options to accessing and controlling a PC with Dream-Mouse.

Cap-Mouse - uses head movement.

Pistol-Mouse - uses large-scale hand and wrist movement.

Mini-Mouse - requires small-scale finger or thumb movement on the mini joystick to control the PC cursor.

These three options connect into the control box which then connects to the PC via a USB cable. Connecting Dream-Mouse to the PC is easy. Plug the USB cable into the PC and MS Windows makes it ready for use.

Built into the control box are four, standard 3.5 mm, jack sockets to allow users to connect switches into Dream-Mouse. Any standard switch can be attached and, under software control, programmed to perform specific functions such as "left click", "right click", "double click", "enter" etc. The Joystick-To-Mouse software, supplied with all Dream-Mouse configurations, takes care of the switches.

When the testing is complete we will ask our friends at Remploy Coventry to begin production.

I'll be writing more about Dream-Mouse in the coming weeks and the newest idea we have: Dream-Wand.

This is a four switch action stick that can connect into the Dream-Mouse control box and the "action button" box used with the Dream-Gamer PlayStation unit.

One major benefit we have already experienced is the elimination of ~6 metres of cable-spaghetti any multiple switch user has to cope with in their work space.

Dream-Wand can also be connected into the Dream-Racer radio transmitter to steer the racing car, truck or boat.

In effect Dream-Wand is a universal four switch stick that will connect to any device equipped with standard 3.5 mm jack sockets.

Personally, I also think it looks good - a bit more stylish than many standard switches - and may well appeal to older children and young adults.

Mike

New Dream-Racer cars

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:55:15 GMT

We have added two new cars to the Dream-Racer line up. A black Lexus GS430 modelled on the one Jack Bauer drives in the TV series "24" and a new Subaru Impreza.

We chose both these Nikko cars because of their "Triband" transmitter / receiver and the options it creates for group play and teamwork.

The Triband transmitter / receiver in these cars is switchable to channels "A", "B" or "C". In practise, this means that up to three users, playing in the same area, can drive their cars at the same time without interference.

Triband creates the possibility for special needs schools, play groups etc to encourage teamwork and group activities. Perhaps, even, racing teams that compete with other schools or 3-aside-football games where the cars drive the ball into the net.

All the Dream-Racer Triband cars can be supplied with the cap and pistol controllers giving individuals with different physical abilities the opportunity to play together.

Hand-held control systems for Dream-Racer and Dream-Gamer

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:12:54 GMT

Over the last few weeks we have been collecting user testimonials from customers and people that asked to evaluate both Dream-Racer and Dream-Gamer systems and we've started to act on the points raised.

One of the Dream-Gamer testers told us that he had had difficulty moving his head to control games on the PlayStation. His difficulty stemmed from his need to use a head brace designed to keep his head steady - a clear conflict.

Our solution to this problem is 'Pistol Racer', 'Pistol Gamer' and 'Pistol Mouse' and all three systems operate the same way.

Instead of head movements, the electronics in each Pistol unit capture hand and wrist action to control the racing car, PlayStation game or PC cursor.

We've selected a light weight, ergonomically shaped housing that is suitable for either left or right handed use.

Mike

PS - Dream-Gamer goes into production next week.

New Dream-Racer song

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:11:09 GMT

Fresh from the recording studio comes a remix of the Dream-Racer song.

John and George recorded the original version in February and started to include it into their gigs in and around the North East along with the story behind Dream-Racer. Since then they've had the chance to re-work the original version into the one that plays as you open the blog.

Thanks guys.

Mike

Accessibility for all PS2 gamers

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:54:58 GMT

PlayStation 2 Official Magazine-UK September edition is now on the shelves and has an article about equipment for the disabled gamer. It's written by Kim Richards from Future Magazines.

Kim opens her article with these comments "For people with disabilities, playing PS2 can be difficult or even impossible. But from adapted controllers to sight and sound mods, the technology is out there to make gaming more accessible."

The article reviews several different types of PS2 controller. It starts with a description of Dream-Gamer, goes on to highlight Switchcraft designed by Barrie Ellis and then the Quad Controller produced by Ken Yankelevitz.

It's a good read so why not pop along to the store to pick up a copy.

Thanks Kim.

Mike

Disability Challengers Dream-Racer challenge photos

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:48:40 GMT

A few weeks ago Disability Challengers organised a fund raising event in Farnham in aid of the new children's play centre.

More information about the project can be found on the Disability Challengers website.

They need to raise a further £350,000 to complete the project.

Call Disability Challengers if you would like to get involved with fundraising for disabled children.

The number is: 01483 230060

Here are a few of the pictures of Damon Hill skillfully driving a Dream-Racer Venus truck against six would-be champions.

Damon Hill with Michael Buerk.

After the racing, it was the turn of Michael Buerk to test his knowledge of current affairs in a quiz competition.

Thanks to the guys for supporting the event.

Mike

Champion in Dream-Racer challenge

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:02:40 GMT

Farnham, Surrey ... Yesterday, Damon Hill took on all challengers in a marathon one-lap race. Four, pre-teen and two post-teen enthusiasts raced Damon around a special course in aid of Disability Challengers' fund raising appeal for the Farnham play centre for disabled children.

On a course specially constructed to test driving skills and, as it turned out, blocking maneuvers, champion and challenger drove, sometimes backwards, their adapted Dream-Racer Venus trucks along a tricky course watched by excited spectators.

The champion regained much pride following a convincing win in the fifth race: narrowing the score to 3:2 behind the challengers. The sixth and final circuit was crucial. Could the champion take the flag ahead of his determined challenger and draw the series?

Alas, not! The champion was out-driven 4:2 and the Dream-Racer Disability Challengers' championship title went to the six very determined challengers - now champions each.

Hamish put in the best lap-time and his mum was rewarded by £50 of food vouchers - the food of champions - kindly donated by Waitrose.

Many thanks Damon for being such a great sport and to everyone that joined in.

Mike

Pictures next week - I hope.

Dream-Mouse

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 19:17:12 GMT

Over the last few blog entries I've mentioned two new products we are working on - Dream-Gamer and Dream-Mouse. I talked about Dream-Gamer last time; today I thought I'd introduce Dream-Mouse.

We designed Dream-Mouse so that two individuals can share equal access to a PC - at the same time.

Dream-Mouse captures head movements (or other body movements) to give the user full control over applications such as games, e-mail, documents or a browser to access to the internet. It uses similar motion sensors to those built into Dream-Racer to control the cursor on the screen and input switches to control actions within the application.

Four external switches can be plugged into Dream-Mouse and each can be programmed to do tasks such as 'enter', 'open', 'save', 'print' etc. All input switches designed for children and adults with physical disabilities, fitted with standard 3.5 mm jack plugs, can be connected.

Working together ...

Dream-Mouse is designed to allow two users to work together, at the same time, on the same application. Simultaneous dual access creates the possibility for new teaching and learning experiences, teamwork, cooperation and inclusion. With Dream-Mouse, both users can control the same cursor or menu bar in an application.

Typically, the co-worker, perhaps a tutor, would, use a normal mouse or even an adapted tracker-ball pointer to assist or guide the pupil through an exercise.

Dual access will benefit a whole range of individuals, teams or groups that wish to work together, on the same PC. For some it could be a teaching, learning, skill development scenario. Others may like the challenge of competitive team-gaming events.

Our friends at QED suggested we should give consideration to how folks with different physical disabilities could use Dream-Mouse. That go us thinking and, so far, we have produced three control devices.

1. Cap-Mouse: which captures head movement through sensors similar to those used in Dream-Racer and Dream-Gamer.

2. Pistol-Mouse: which uses hand movement.

3. Mini-Mouse: that relys on finger or thumb control.

I'll have more to say on these as we move through the testing stage and get them ready for commercial release in October.

Disability Challengers fund raising event ...

It's time to pack the Dream-Racer units. Tomorrow, Friday July 27th, is the Disability Organisers fund raising event in Farnham, UK. Damon Hill will be driving a Dream-Racer Venus truck against all would-be challengers. If you are available why not come along to help raise some much needed cash for a new play centre.

More next week.

Mike

Dream-Gamer is CE approved

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:26:09 GMT

Monday started out with a meeting at the Manufacturing Advisory Service - West Midlands with Cecilia and Mike from Wemtech. We met to review the testing Mike had carried out on Dream-Gamer and check the results. Excellent news! Dream-Gamer passed all the tests and it can be CE marked.

We've just the admin to complete, buy-in the various components and we will be ready for the first production run in August. I'll be updating the website shortly to reflect the new CE status of Dream-Gamer.

The second meeting; notwithstanding the hassle of negotiating the M6 motorway from Wolverhampton, past Birmingham and on to Coventry, was with Mike at Rempoly Automotive. Early on we decided that building Dream-Racer, and everything else we design, would best be carried out by specialists and Remploy fit the bill very nicely. They have started the production run of Dream-Racer units and in August will begin work on Dream-Gamer. Followed in October, if everything goes well, with production of Dream-Mouse.

It occurred to me that whilst many people will have heard of Remploy not everyone may have a good understanding of what the organisation does. I copied the next paragraph from their website:

"Remploy is the market leading expert in the provision of specialist employment services for disabled people and those who face complex barriers to employment. Our comprehensive range of services enable disabled people, people with a health condition and others to make the most of their skills and abilities, to gain or retain sustainable employment."

Source: www.remploy.co.uk

Mike

Dream-Racer featured on the BBC

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:45:07 GMT

Dream-Racer is creating masses of interest. The PR and support we are receiving from Bruce at Actinic and Jane at Dexterity has really helped to get the Dream-Racer web site ranked in the search engines, blogs and specialist magazines. But, the single biggest awareness boost happened on May 9th when Geoff Adams-Spink, Age & disability correspondent, BBC News website, wrote an article about Dream-Racer and featured it on the BBC web site - technology page.

The response was amazing: that week the phone never stopped wringing and my e-mail box was crammed with requests for info and general encouragement from parents, carers, teachers and other inventors.

By Tuesday afternoon the article had been picked-up by bloggers all over the world and our story, cap and car pictures began to appear on a huge number of sites. That afternoon I did a live radio interview with Sean Moncrieff at Newstalk, Ireland and then two film production companies approached us to do a short documentary. No pressure !!!

All of the media attention and PR is helping to kick-start sales. QED, our sales partner covering UK and Ireland, are excited by their results since the launch of Dream-Racer's at Naidex 2007.

Early on we decided to concentrate on R&D and prototype production and to ask Remploy to carry out the manufacturing for us; that's now starting to get underway. Remploy will also produce the Dream-Gamer units and, when it's ready, the Dream-Mouse we have been working on for the last month or so.

I'll be updating this blog again next week when Dream-Gamer comes back from the Wemtech test labs - hopefully with all of the CE testing complete.

Thanks to everyone out there for supporting Dream-Racer. Stay tuned for more about Dream-Gamer and our latest idea Dream-Mouse.

Mike

Dream-Racer on show at Naidex & Special Needs North 2007

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:29:48 GMT

We finally made it. This week Dream-Racer is being shown to the general public, healthcare and occupational therapy professionals at Naidex 2007 (NEC Birmingham) and Special Needs North (GMEX Manchester).

Leading up to these two exhibitions we asked Quality Enabling Devices Ltd to act as the distributor of Dream-Racer and to introduce our radio controlled technology to special needs children and young adults in the UK and Ireland.

QED is a family business led by managing director Richard Bullock. They manufacture and distribute a large range of innovative products for people with special needs from their headquarters in Gosport, Hampshire. We first met them at the Special Needs Fringe Exhibition in January. Over the next few months got to know Richard and Nadine Farris (sales director) liked their approach, their enthusiasm for Dream-Racer and the other ideas we are working on.

With Richard and Nadine leading the commercial introduction of Dream-Racer we should have more time to focus on completing the development work required for Dream-Gamer. We also have an early stage concept for a PC accessory we plan to scope out.

With QED focused on UK and Ireland my next commercial challenge is to identify potential distributors across the rest of Europe. Interestingly, my visit to Naidex today already pointed me in the direction of two companies, one in Denmark and the other in Sweden that have similar expertise to QED.

Now I'm wondering what I'll find Manchester.

Mike

Dream-Racer makes EC Declaration of Conformity

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:30:04 GMT

Regular followers of this blog will know a little about Dream-Racer and our goal of developing radio controlled toys for children and young adults with physical disabilities. Today we made another leap forward by completing a programme of regulatory compliance.

We have completed the testing and risk assessment required to enable us to delare Dream-Racer radio controlled cars and trucks meet the requirements of the 1999/5/EC directive. I know that all sounds very technical but what it means is that Dream-Racer can be CE marked. I must admit I found the process rather daunting but fortunately we had some very capable admin help from John Watts, a consultant specialising in these requirements and from Derek Barlow at DB Technology (Cambridge) Ltd. Derek Barlow was responsible for checking the electromagnetic compatibility of the transmitter and receiver used in the Nikko radio controlled cars and trucks.

This link connects directly to the EC Declaration on the Dream-Racer web site. Now that CE marking is behind us we are pressing ahead with our search for an electronics assembly operation to build the various Dream-Racer components.

You can also find more background on CE marking at Wikipedia.

Mike

Dream-Racer web site links

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:17:39 GMT

The Dream-Racer web site has been up and running for nearly two months and already it's getting noticed. If you type Dream-Racer into Google the site is listed on page three. But, when the search is restricted to Google UK Dream-Racer is listed on page one and the main catalog page on page 2. (Excuse the spelling that's how Actinic spells it.)

The same search on MSN World or UK lists both the catalog page and this blog on page 1. Additionally, one of my other sites, Excitim also features on page one because of the case study reference linking through to Dream-Racer.

Alongside these there are lots of other pages because of references to Dream Racer and other items that are not relevant to either this blog or our Dream-Racer site.

To get high up the listing I need to help Google, MSN, Yahoo and all the other search engines out there rank the site and this blog more effectively. I've learnt that the process - getting a better ranking - is the goal of search engine optimisation (SEO for short) Perhaps the gurus will disagree but, to me, SEO appears more of an art than science. Log onto any SEO forum and you'll hear opinions and counter-opinions all the time.

The one thing they all agree on is the essential use of keywords and phrases in your web text. I've worked on selecting a series of keywords and phrases that seem most relevant to describe the radio controlled toys we designed for children and young adults with physical disabilities and special educational needs.

The other essential ingredient to a high ranking site is the quality and number of links your site attracts. Except it's not the ones you create by pointing outwards; it's the links that point inwards to your site that matter most.

The gurus also suggest that you need to build these links slowly: too many in one go is bad news. A bit like the game of snakes and ladders were climbing up ladders is good but, a wrong shake, sends you sliding back down the snakes.

Yesterday I contacted two organisations keen to list sites that referenced adaptive technology products for individuals with disabilities. Robin at Ableize and Alpha at Enable Together were both very willing to create links from their sites to Dream-Racer. Robin has done even more. Thanks guys.

Over the next weeks and months I'll be looking to increase the number of links to Dream-Racer. If anyone knows of other suitable sites were the focus is adaptive technology for individuals with physical disabilities then let me know and I'll take a look.

Mike

BETT Video

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 10:41:03 GMT

A couple of weeks ago we went to the BETT exhibition at Olympia to take a look at the new products and technology being developed for children with disabilities and also to gauge how Dream-Racer would be perceived by the specialists in the field.

Today I received an e-mail from the organisers saying they had produced a review of the event. If you couldn't get there yourself but would like to get a flavour for the event click on this link BETT Video.

Mike

Dream-Racer - Johns' song

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:02:41 GMT

Today is a perfect day to add a new post to this blog.

Yesterday John Homer finished editing the "Dream-Racer" song he composed for us and I couldn't wait to get it up on the site. John sings and plays guitar and George is on synthesizer. Have a listen and let us know what you think.

January whizzed by so fast that I was left thinking what happened and what did we do. Actually we did a lot! Mid-month we went to the BETT exhibition and, even more relevant for us, we found the Special Needs Fringe Exhibition just across the road from BETT. Later in the month we visited the Toy Fair 2007 to meet up with the guys at Nikko Toys and a series of other companies.

We started the CE registration work on Dream-Racer and Dream-Gamer and also got the Dream-Racer web site up and running. Out of the blue I was contacted by Jane Lee from Dexterity with an offer to help us promote Dream-Racer to the press sponsored by her client Actinic. These are the folks that produce the e-commerce engine, Actinic Catalog, at the heart of the Dream-Racer web site.

We also made a lot of progress with our Dream-Gamer concept. I've not mentioned too much about Dream-Gamer so far but, as a reminder, it's our concept to enable disabled children to play games on the Sony PlayStation without needing to use the standard controller.

So to end this post we would like to say a special thanks to John and George for composing and recording the Dream-Racer song.

Mike & Mark