New device helps the disabled communicate via sniffing

Science : A device is being developed that allows severely disabled people to write e-mail, surf the internet, and even control a wheelchairâmdash;all via sniffing. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, report their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . The device works by detecting slight changes in pressure on a person’s soft palate, the tissue that controls air flow through the nose. Smelling isn’t involved. Because many disabled people are still able to move their palate, they can use the device. This is not the first technology developed to aid the disabled to communicate: In his 1997 book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a massive stroke, documented his experience using a device that allowed him to select letters by blinking his left eye.