Galilea Technologies, an emerging startup founded by three University of Minnesota students in the STARTUP: Development and Testing course, premiered the Galilea Chair at their Demo Day on May 14th at the University Recreation and Wellness Center. The Galilea Chair enables wheelchair users to navigate using simple head tilts and thinking of their intended direction by leveraging a brain-signal sensing headband and cutting edge robotics and brain-computer interface technology.
The Demo Day had over 50 attendants and included wheelchair users, disability specialists, and other interested stakeholders. Attendees were invited to demo the Galilea Chair and use head orientation to navigate their wheelchair. Other demos were featured such as controlling a virtual wheelchair with head orientation and controlling the motion of a virtual cube by using thoughts alone. The feedback we got from users was very helpful and insightful as we move forward.
Galilea Technologies would like to give its deepest gratitude to Phil Soran for his mentorship and support, Robbi Haase for volunteering as an ATP (assistive technology professional) onsite, Neal Binsfeld and the DRC (disability resource center) for their immense logistical assistance, and Carla Pavone and the MIN-CORPS STARTUP course for providing the funding for this event.
