Link Assistive expands access to eye-gaze and other technologies at Adelaide's Tonsley Innovation District
Layne using eye-gaze technology developed by Link Assistive that moved into larger accesible premises at Tonsley Innovato District, in Adelaide south.
Main image by Tobii Dynavox.
Link Assistive, developing technology to help those with physical and cognitive disabilities use smart devices, moved into a new purpose-built accessible plant at Tonsley Innovation District, in Adelaide’s south, in 2022.
Link Assistive was one of only two Australian companies developing eye-gaze technology to help people with severe physical challenges control a device through eye movement. The technology replaced keyboards and mouses and allowed users to open a link by focusing their gaze on it for half a second or a second.
Link Assistive worked with a Swedish tech company to develop eye- racking for Apple iOS systems. Previously, this technology only was compatible with Windows-based devices. Link Asistive founder Bas Tijdhof said this allowed the company to collaborate with smart home technology companies to develop software, as many platforms use iOS operating systems: “A user with motor neuron disease who has a smart home house or smart home technology housing can use that product to open the door and turn the lights on and open the gate and all that type of stuff”.
Previously based in a house in the Adelaide suburb of Pasadena, Link Assistive’s move into bigger space at Tonsley Innovation District allowed it to be next to other companies that have links to its industry. As a NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme)-verified provider, Link Assistive was keen to build upon its connection with Autism SA that also chose Tonsley as its headquarters – having designed and installed a sensory room at its Elizabeth office in the past. Autism SA’s speech pathology team also trialled Link Assistive’s communication equipment with their clients regularly.
Tijdhof also saw natural future partnerships with Flinders University’s medical device partnering programme and the Tonsley-based Global Centre for Modern Ageing, with many of Link Assistive’s products including ceiling, flooring and table interactive multisensory projection systems having practical and potentially life-changing advantages.
A part of Link Assistive’s building at Tonsley had a high-tech sensory and technologies room, allowing projections, light displays, sound and fibre. This allowed a place to completely trail equipment to meet a client’s physical or mental needs: “Previously, we had to fit out a home with all sorts of now pretty old-fashioned technology and make that accessible, whereas it’s now quite a seamless integration,” Tijdhof said.