What it’s like to have Parkinson’s for 15 minutes, from New Scientist:

…To create the sensations, you wear a glove fitted with a motorised device, while looking at a screen you hold in the other hand (see video). The device recreates tremors running at 6 hertz, which is the upper limit of those experienced by people with Parkinson’s disease.

You follow instructions fed through headphones, and use your kitted-up arm to mimic the movements of a man on the screen, manipulating real cutlery as he does. This creates the illusion that the virtual limb is your own.

The “story” unfolds through the eyes of Andrew, a man in his thirties with symptoms of Parkinson’s. While the disease is more common in older people, younger adults are also susceptible.

“If someone is in their thirties, the symptoms may be interpreted in a different way in a public context,” says Jarvis. In the installation, for example, a waiter thinks the character is drunk. “We’re hoping to challenge these expectations,” adds Jarvis.

…The system was developed using low-cost technology, and its components are controlled by a credit-card-sized Raspberry Pi computer. The team is now focusing on making the motorised glove less bulky, and replacing the screen with virtual reality goggles, like the Oculus RiftMovie Camera to make it more immersive….

Read more about the interactive experience back at New Scientist.

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