
A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s - wglb
https://blogs.microsoft.com/transform/feature/my-god-its-better-emma-can-write-again-thanks-to-a-prototype-watch-raising-hope-for-parkinsons-disease/?utm_source=microsoft_internal&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=buildfeature_may2017&utm_term=build&https://blogs_microsoft_com/transform/feature/a-force-of-nature-ros-harvey-uses-tech-for-an-internet-of-oysters-sustainable-farming-and-better-working-conditions#sm.00001bp03yrty6eofuduw6bwr4ub4
======
erlehmann_
> As part of her work, Zhang researched the root cause of tremors. She spent
> six months, off and on, building prototypes. She sometimes worked in her
> London home, soldering wires to PC boards and tinkering with coin cell
> motors to create vibrations. She tested early versions with four other
> people with Parkinson’s, producing promising results for three, spurring the
> idea forward, she says.

This paragraph reads like the solution is not as simple as strapping a
vibrator to a wristband. So where are those results documented? Does anyone
have an idea where the source code and schematics are for the singular Emma
device prototype?

Edit: I have not been able to find source code yet. A reddit thread about the
device [1] from December 2016 links to a screenshot [2] of a BBC documentary
from which one can infer that Zhang used six motors for the Emma device and
timed them in a specific way.

Edit 2: I noticed that my other HN comment [3] asking if this article is a PR
submarine was first upvoted until it was shown at the top of the thread. It
was then downvoted until it moved to the bottom of the thread. If a HN mod is
reading this: Does that voting pattern seem normal?

Edit 3: Now this comment is also receiving downvotes?

Edit 4: The BBC has a GitHub repository containing other code related to the
documentary. There has been an issue opened in January 2017 [4] from a person
who wants to help his father who has Parkinson's. No source code seems to have
been released since then.

[1]
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Parkinsons/comments/5hh2fx/emmas_wa...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Parkinsons/comments/5hh2fx/emmas_watch_a_few_engineering_thoughts/)

[2] [http://i.imgur.com/0q0QHsj.png](http://i.imgur.com/0q0QHsj.png)

[3]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14388178](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14388178)

[4] [https://github.com/bbc/MiD/issues/3](https://github.com/bbc/MiD/issues/3)

~~~
Tempest1981
This is a PR piece, and it's very interesting. Seems like we're all in such a
hurry to de-bunk it, demanding scientific details and open source. If Apple
published this, would the reaction be as cynical?

~~~
hn_throwaway_99
I don't have an issue with it being a PR piece, but I think it's a shame that
an actual discussion of the tech is basically non-existent.

Other controversial opinion: I've seen several examples of tech projects led
by women where the reporting is couched much more from the human interest
angle than a tech angle, and worst, questioning the tech in question can be
met with accusations of sexism. I think this does a great disservice to women
in tech by assuming a less critical bar.

As for examples, Elizabeth Holmes is probably the most well known one, but
another one that was kind of fascinating to me at the time was Grace Choi and
her "Mink" make-up printer. The printer as advertised was basically non-
existent, but articles were universally laudatory and many lambasted men who
questioned the tech for "just not getting it." I'm not arguing that is going
on here, but without an explanation of what's actually going on, and
comparisons to other similar technologies, this is just a puff piece.

------
caycep
Hm.

Parkinson's patients sometimes have tremors, but all tremors are not
Parkinson's. The physiological explanation of Parkinson's "firing off wrong
signals to muscles" is not correct.

Parkinson's disease is defined primarily by bradykinesia and limb rigidity -
the difficulty of the motor planning part of the brain processing motor
commands to the motor cortex. Much of the disability in Parkinson's disease
comes from a patient's brain not being able to come up with motor commands
fast enough, resulting in wooden, statue-like movement and gait instability
(i.e. coming up with motor commands fast enough to maintain upright balance).

Of interest - while tremors (i.e. essential tremors, action tremors, rubral
tremors) can limit function, the interesting part of Parkinsonian tremors are
that the vast majority of them are "resting tremors," i.e. they go away with
action and thus are not the limiting factor of writing. Most Parkinson's
patients complain, rather, of the bradykinesia (motor command issues) causing
micrographia, or excessively small and unreadable handwriting.

Anyway, I am not sure what diagnosis Emma actually has - it may be what is
known as a "tremor predominant" Parkinson's disease (which overlaps a bit with
essential tremor, another neurological movement disorder). It may very well be
essential tremor. Or it may be a dystonic tremor which responds, bizarrely, to
weird sensory cues, i.e. "gestes antagonistes". If the watch with its
vibrating counterweights works for her, great. For most of our Parkinson's
patients, it doesn't solve their main issue which is the inability to move or
walk, or at least do so well.

Not to mention the cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease which is a whole
other can of worms.

Of note: Parkinsonian and essential tremors respond extremely well to
implantable deep brain stimulators...that is a whole other topic as well.

~~~
kylixz
Are you in some way working with those with Parkinson's? You seem highly
knowledgeable. I have a relative that I believe is in denial of the disease
(Parkinson's + as described by one doctor) and am looking for some insight.
Apologies for the out of band comment, just looking for help.

~~~
caycep
Hm, sure. Not sure what the best way to get in touch would be through HN, but
send an email to my username at gmail i guess.

------
oneplane
Sounds more like an advertisement for Microsoft and Windows while it actually
has nothing to do with it. It's almost as if a good idea went through a PR
processor that tries to turn it into a 'nice story' while also replacing
normal words with branded words. It's annoying as hell to read, and instead of
remembering the good idea behind this piece of personal electronics, it only
leaves me with the bad taste of corporate marketing.

------
spike021
I have "Essential Tremors", which can be very frustrating. I can write, but
there have been times, especially in school, where having tremors made my
writing quite a bit messier than if I didn't have them. Something like this
could be really interesting in the future, not just for people who have
Parkinson's but also other causes of tremors.

------
spiralx
The BBC documentary "The Big Life Fix" is available here:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkjdHzlT_jI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkjdHzlT_jI)

It's worth watching, it's very emotional watching her try and write with the
watch on for the first time.

------
FlyingLawnmower
Can anyone with a medical background chime in with some simple theory about
why pulsed vibrations are so effective?

This is incredibly exciting work.

~~~
cperciva
_why pulsed vibrations are so effective_

Vibrating shoes have been shown to be useful for helping elderly populations
avoid falls; their diminished sensory acuity makes it hard for them to feel
the differential pressure which indicates that they are starting to fall, but
adding noise results in the sensory threshold being crossed.

I'd presume that the muscle overstimulation which causes characteristic
twitching/jerking is being suppressed by improved sensation of pressure.

~~~
noir_lord
Interesting, I have syringomyelia (cavity in the spine that presses on the
spinal cord), I'm lucky in that on the scale of "I'm fucked" to "I'm
asymptomatic" I'm far closer to the latter but one of the side effects is
decreased nerve acuity, worse some days than others.

------
zensavona
We actually have a very effective, natural fix for this kind of Parkinson's
symptom. Marijuana.

Look how amazingly (immediately) effective it is:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4s-6fnLSzE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4s-6fnLSzE)

------
tdehollain
For those looking for a decent TL;DR:

[https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/05/10/m...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/05/10/microsoft-
shows-off-watch-quiets-parkinsons-tremors/101517718/)

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/05/11/microsoft-b...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/05/11/microsoft-
built-watch-calmed-womans-parkinsons-tremors/)

------
dannylandau
We are working on handwriting analysis for Parkinson's Disease if anyone is
interested -- [http://ineuroskill.com/](http://ineuroskill.com/)

Applications are for both monitoring medication intake and as a precursor for
early diagnosis.

------
pscsbs
This reminds me of Google's Liftware, which does something similar but for
cutlery.

[https://www.liftware.com/](https://www.liftware.com/)

~~~
rtkwe
That's been mentioned as one of her inspirations in a couple places, even
though they're two very different mechanisms. This bracelet seems to actually
interrupt the tremor somehow while the spoon just stabilized itself like an
active camera gimbal.

------
nom
Wait, so does it just work by adding noise to the sensory input with simple
vibration motors? Or does it actively counteract the tremors using an
accelerometer?

------
averagewall
It's great to see someone helping the symptoms and improving quality of life.
It wasn't until a family member got Parkinson's that I realized it's not just
shaking hands, it's a terminal illness with progressive neurodegeneration.
Usually with dementia happening alongside the physical symptoms. It's about as
scary as Alzheimer's.

~~~
hashhar
There is a trio of neuro-degenerative diseases which are horrible and have no
known cure or even treatment to make the symptoms manageable. The worst part
is that the person who gets them suffers as much, if not more, than the people
they know and they get worse over time. Huntington's, Parkinson's and
Alzheimer's.

------
jroseattle
Really fantastic story. Reminds of those times when engineers have a really
profound effect on the lives of certain people -- like development of the
cochlear implants that help the deaf hear.

The next thing I expect along these lines is 3-D printing of human organs.

------
sanj
Why wasn't this flagged as a dupe?

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14316703](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14316703)

I would've expected the hash cruft to be ignored.

~~~
wglb
That's my error. I usually remove said cruft before submitting but neglected
to do this time.

~~~
sanj
Sorry, I was asking more why HN didn't do it automatically.

~~~
grzm
I agree, it's frustrating. I think the primary reason is that a general
algorithm for doing so might be difficult to come up with. Some hosts, such as
Medium, use unique identifiers for each page view which are apparently mapped
on the server side. If that identifier is removed, Medium returns a 404.

------
elorant
This is why we need scientists. To make people's lives better.

------
0xFFC
I don't know. Is this normal to cry when you see something like this.

Or I have to go to psychiatrist especially considering I have symptoms of BPD.

~~~
nom
It's called empathy.

~~~
wiz21c
It's called "being manipulated". OK, I'm a bit cynical here, but calling this
"empathy" alone sounds a bit simple to me...

------
c-slice
That's incredible. The side by side comparison was so stark. I wonder what the
physiology behind this is.

------
Overtonwindow
Absolutely astounding.

------
erpellan
Woah. Nice one, Microsoft. That's amazing.

------
snvzz
This article does somehow make a painful read. I just can't.

It'd be nice if someone who could handle it wrote a TL;DR for us.

------
sjs382
Where can I buy or otherwise get (make, 3d print, etc) one?

------
8note
what about just adding a heavy watch? that would at least cut down the
frequency of the tremors, which could help the brain get its act together

~~~
jedimastert
It's not just heavy, it vibrates. It's actively trying to interrupt the
tremors, as opposed to just dampening.

------
erlehmann_
So is this what a PR submarine [1] looks like? I remembered that I had read
such a story before and found that Emma could also write again in March 2017
[2], December 2016 [3], November 2016 [4] and probably other months between
now and then.

[1]
[http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html)
[2] [https://theassistiveblog.areavoices.com/2017/03/30/emma-a-
we...](https://theassistiveblog.areavoices.com/2017/03/30/emma-a-wearable-
invention-that-could-change-the-life-of-someone-with-tremors/) [3]
[https://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-researcher-creates-
wearabl...](https://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-researcher-creates-wearable-
smooths-handwriting-parkinsons-disease-video/) [4]
[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3979182/Engineer-c...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3979182/Engineer-
creates-device-help-Parkinson-s-sufferer.html)

~~~
elorant
How can this be a PR piece? For starters, there isn't even a product. And most
important, this is Microsoft, not some up and coming start-up that's craving
for exposure. Microsoft is a behemoth when it comes to ad spending. If they
had a product to market they wouldn't need some native advertising article,
they'd go in guns blazing.

~~~
cperciva
Microsoft is actively rebranding itself from "evil megacorporation" to
"innovative doer of good".

~~~
partycoder
Like "Microsoft <3 Linux" and "Microsoft <3 Open Source".

Except that Microsoft used to collect 2 billion dollars in patents from Linux
based product vendors. They totally "<3" open source.

~~~
partycoder
To the downvoters:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents)

------
khazhoux
Looks like nice work. I think. I couldn't find the details and didn't want to
spend the full 15 minutes reading.

This style of writing is very frustrating.

1\. Introduction. We set up for something dramatic. In this case, a
Parkinson's sufferer is about to see her life changed. In another recent
story, a maternity nurse is about to birth her first child, and we were teased
she would die after giving birth. Now we're at the moment of truth. All we
have to do is...

2\. CUT TO BACKSTORY. When X and Y first met in 1997, they were first drawn to
each other by a shared love of whatever. Eventually, their travels led them to
find out...

3\. DEEP BACKSTORY. When X was 9 years old, she found a thing that immediately
interested her. She kept at it because...

4\. FAMILY BACKSTORY. Her grandfather fought in WWII/Korea/Vietnam for the
US/British/Japanese/Australian army, and he tinkered on the side in whatever
endeavor X would go on to work in...

5\. MAIN TOPIC. And we get a paragraph or two of what we originally were
interested in reading about, but not before...

6\. CUT TO ORIGINAL BACKSTORY. Flesh it out a bit more. Finish it out.
College, grad school, first job, moved across the country, landed current job.
And now, finally...

7\. NOT SO FAST. Let's finish out the grandfather's story, and his reaction
when he learned what X was working on. Ok, now...

8\. BACK TO THE ORIGINAL STORY ITSELF. And we get the five last paragraphs,
which could just be joined with the first 3 paragraphs to tell the entire
story. But then we woudn't hit our word count.

I just wanted to learn how this bracelet works. With that other article, I
just wanted to know how the nurse died. Do I need to be teased for 27
paragraphs?

~~~
nerdponx
This is classic longform journalism writing, and it's the reason why I don't
like longform journalism. I wish they'd give me an abstract -- not having
article summaries is the reason I never found any "good" magazine worth the
money. Imagine so

~~~
chongli
No. This is a bait-and-switch masquerading as good long form journalism. The
bait in this case was the technology. The switch was the backstory. Proper
long form journalism does not engage in this sort of dishonest writing. The
story you came to read is introduced at the beginning and every paragraph
afterward serves to build up what you want to know. Kinda like a novel!

