Glenn Johnson, an electrical engineer, wanted to help his sister. She has cerebral palsy, which makes it difficult for her to manipulate modern electronics. Glenn’s goal was to modify a Kindle into a gadget his sister could use.
He took the controls from a children’s V.Reader, which has large controls that his sister could use easily. Each silicone button on the V.Reader has two wires attached. He routed those wires into the Kindle’s interface board. The result is a Kindle that can be manipulated by his sister. He calls his gadget the Frankenkindle.
This is what your completed Frankenkindle will look like.
To program the Teensy++ board, you'll need the Arduino software, as well as a utility to program the Teensy itself.
The editors of Design News have handpicked your favorite Gadget Freak cases from over the years, bringing them together in a dynamic digital edition, complete with videos, which you can view here.
Good point, Jenn. It seems it would only take a few superficial changes. In the meantime, it's great that we have an augmented version through Gadget Freak.
Maybe Amazon should take note here, and come up with a version that is easier for people who may not otherwise be able to manipulate the smaller controls.
Here's an example of a gadget where necessity really was the mother of invention. Nice to see a gadget that serves a specific purpose and actually helps someone.
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