Indy Car racer Sam Schmidt sustained a C-3/4/5 spinal cord injury in 2000 while practicing for the season opener. As a result, he was paralyzed from the neck down. Now an Indy Racing League owner, Schmidt was able to finally get back behind the wheel thanks to advancements in assistive technology for quadriplegics. Today, he finds independence and respite while driving his 650HP Chevrolet Corvette. Schmidt uses equipment similar to a custom environmental control unit to operate the vehicle using his eyes and a straw – much like the Eye Gaze and sip and puff features of the autonoME ECU devices. Take a look:
Accessibility Services, Inc. (ASI) salutes inspiring individuals like Schmidt who beat the odds and found independence despite his spinal cord injury. Schmidt also works to promote research and advocacy for quadriplegics and those with spinal cord injuries through his foundation, Conquer Paralysis Now™.
ASI specializes in developing revolutionary assistive technology for quadriplegics and individuals with debilitating diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Our proprietary autonoME is a custom environmental control unit/speech generating device with integrated computer capabilities. The autonoME Hospital is the first hospital ECU to also incorporate a full television experience. If you would like to learn more about our autonoME Residential, autonoME Hospital or portable autonoMEgo, one of our product representatives will be happy to schedule either a live or virtual demonstration. Give us a call to learn more today!
