Tatum creates revolutionary communication tool for deaf-blind people

Organization: Tatum Robotics
Country: USA
Website: tatumrobotics.com
Year Founded: 2021
Number of Employees: 1-10

Description:

Tatum Robotics has created a 3D-printed robotic hand that aims to help DeafBlind people communicate, soon to be followed by a complete robotic arm for complex signing. A DeafBlind person uses Tatum’s robotic system by placing their hand over the robotic hand, which currently fingerspells using the American Sign Language (ASL) manual alphabet. Receiving the robot’s handshapes is meant to imitate the way DeafBlind people receive signs from other people using tactile ASL.

Analysis:
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissions (NARUC) estimates there are between 70,000-100,000 people living in the U.S. today who are completely and concurrently Deaf and blind. Although most assistive communication tools for the DeafBlind rely on braille, most DeafBlind people do not know braille due to acquiring deafblindness later in life or lack of learning resources and experience. This means much of the population relies on human interpreters, which can cost upwards of $75 an hour, can take months to access, and require a team of two interpreters who switch off every 15 minutes. Tatum’s robotic hand is a revolutionary technology for this community that can give DeafBlind people the ability to communicate with the people around them independently of an interpreter. – Brianna Wessling

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