As my diploma thesis “Button Buddy”, I am designing a system to assist visually impaired people to control interfaces.
The idea for Button Buddy originates from a visit at the University in Vienna, where we observed the struggles of older and vision-impaired to operate exercise machines and other devices due to a decline in fine-motor abilities and vision. Thus we decided to develop an attachment that mounts onto existing control panels without permanent wiring and can be controlled by voice commands or a smartphone app
Button Buddy uses a Master module that communitcates over radio with multiple Slave modules. Each Slave houses a tiny micro-motor and positional sensor, mechanically pressing the target button when called. Every unit carries a unique Device-ID, so the Master knows exactly which motor to activate based on the user’s command and the motor’s last known position.
The Master runs on a mains adapter for uninterrupted service, while battery-powered Slaves allow flexible placement around any panel. Users can also define and upload multi-step macros such as “powering on, setting the speed or incline up”. Those sequences become a single tap or spoken instruction.
By enabling quick, reliable actuation of buttons on devices like treadmills. Button Buddy helps visually impaired to stay active. Its modular, non-invasive design means installation is as simple as sticking Slaves to a interface and powering up the Master, making it a scalable solution for accessible device control.
If you want to know more about the current development of my diploma thesis, you can visit our website under https://button-buddy.site/.
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