Hospital Lights help patients with TBI
Talking Lights is a startup company developing a high-resolution tracking system that uses PDAs and audio directions to guide patients around hospitals as well as helping those with traumatic brain injuries rehabilitate. The navigation system uses optical signals from the ballast in hospital lights to send information to a PDA via an optical receiver worn by the patient. The PDA is also has mapping software, information about the building, and user-specific data such as appointment schedules. The Talking Lights guidance system is "a tremendous asset for someone with traumatic brain injury," says Heechin Chae, medical director of the brain injury center at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, in Boston. The system has been tested at the hospital over the past two years and is currently used by about 20 patients. It not only helps patients navigate the rehab center, but it also appears to help them relearn how to process visual cues and navigate unfamiliar environments, Chae says. A future plan for Talking Lights involves developing software to run on smart phones and hardware for a Bluetooth headset with an optical receiver. The headset would pick up the optical signals, send them to the phone and then play back directions to the wearer.
