#TechThursday- Foodbuddy device makes eating meals easier for people with motor skills disorders

In our weekly feature #TechThursdays, we talk about Foodbuddy, a device developed by computer science engineering students at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar. This device claims to help people with motor skills disorders eat their meals with ease.

Some people with motor skills disorders take longer to perform certain tasks like eat their meals or hold a pen. A new device developed by a group of students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar, aims to help them overcome that.

Called Foodbuddy, the device can be connected through Google Assistant or Alexa, and works on the basis of voice commands. When the user is hungry, he/she can call out to the device through their Voice Assistant and Foodbuddy will take the food inside their mouth. The user can control the amount of food that goes in and they can take occasional breaks in between.

Krishnakumar PS, wheelchair user with spinal muscular atrophy, says the device would be of great use to him.

Foodbuddy is going to help not just people with cerebral palsy, but also others like me who have conditions like spinal muscular atrophy. Since I have difficulty in movements, doing things in daily life is a struggle. Currently, I am using Google’s Voice Assistant to use computers and so on. So I would say this is a great initiative from students at IIT. It is truly revolutionary and a smart attempt. – Krishnakumar PS, Disability rights activist

The idea came when the developers noticed how a friend with cerebral palsy needed help while eating. With Foodbuddy they aim to make people with disabilities feel independent.

Jasmina Khanna,, who has cerebral palsy, can’t wait to try it out. “This device will give sense of independence to people with disabilities who have little or no hand control at all. I would love to try out this device”.

Vinayana Khurana, calls the device revolutionary for her. “As I have cerebral palsy, my hands do not work properly. If this invention comes into my life, I can live my life independently”.

Currently, the alternatives for Foodbuddy that are available in the market is expensive. But makers promise that this new device is going to be affordable.

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