BURNABY, BC--(Marketwired - April 24, 2017) - Over 50 Burnaby South Secondary School students will be coming together on April 25, 2017 at the LipSync Buildathon in Burnaby, British Columbia to build LipSyncs, an open source assistive technology device for people with disabilities.
LipSync is a mouth operated joystick that allows a person to control an onscreen cursor with minimal head and neck movement. It allows someone with no movement in their hands to use a touchscreen device. It is an open source hardware project created by Neil Squire Society and funded by Google that uses 3D printed parts, an Arduino Mini board, and other electronic parts that can be soldered to create the device.
The LipSync Buildathon will connect persons with disabilities to student makers. This is an opportunity for the students to build a LipSync, and to apply their knowledge and skills to address a real world need of a person. The students will also meet some people with disabilities who will receive a LipSync built at the event.
Leading this initiative will be student innovators who are in the District's Career Education Computer Networking Technician Program. Students will be supplied with the tools, components, parts and instructions, and will work together to assemble, solder, 3D print components, transfer the code onto an Arduino board, and mount the device to a wheelchair. They will be supported by the LipSync creators, the Neil Squire Society, and our new program, Makers Making Change: connecting makers to people with disabilities to create open-source assistive technologies.
TIME: April 25th 2017 (9am - 3:00pm)
LOCATION: Burnaby South Secondary School (5455 Rumble St, Burnaby, BC V5J 2B7)
Neil Squire Society is organizing the LipSync Buildathon in partnership with School District 41, Vancouver Foundation, and Google.org.
About Neil Squire Society
"We use Technology, Knowledge, and Passion to Empower Canadians with Disabilities". The Neil Squire Society is the only national not-for-profit organization in Canada that has for over thirty years empowered Canadians with disabilities through the use of computer-based assistive technologies, research and development, and various employment programs. Through our work, we help our clients remove barriers so that they can live independent lives and become active members of the workplace and our society. Specializing in education and workplace empowerment, the Society has served over 35,000 people since 1984.
About Makers Making Change
Makers Making Change is a new initiative by the Neil Squire Society. It will connect Makers to people with disabilities, to create access solutions. It will also feature a catalogue of various open-source assistive technology projects, with parts, instructions and reviews to support makers and people with disabilities. Their first major project is the LipSync.
About Burnaby School District and the Computer Networking Technician Program
Burnaby School District is the fourth largest school district in BC. The District is committed to providing all students with a wide variety of innovative, high-quality programs to ensure student achievement in areas that include academics, athletics, career education, visual and performing arts, social responsibility and leadership.
The District's Computer Networking Technician program is a 1-year program for students in Grades 11-12 interested in a hands-on career working with technology. It is offered in partnership with BCIT, University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), Cisco Systems, CompTIA, and the Federal government's Focus In IT (FIT) Program. Burnaby South is the flagship school in Canada that offers this program to secondary students. Students receive advanced training in PC repair, Linux operating systems, and computer networking with opportunities to obtain industry certifications (CompTIA A+, Linux+, CCENT) and part-time employment through work experience. Successful students also have the option to ladder into corresponding Computer Information Systems programs at BCIT and UFV.
Distribution of this press release was generously donated by Marketwired.
Contact Information:
For Further Information, please contact
Chad Leaman
604.473.9363
chadl@neilsquire.ca