The Sesame Phone: An accessible touch-free smart phone

It's a novel idea: a touchscreen smartphone, able to be used without touch.  And yet for millions of people living with paralysis (as many as 6 million in America alone, according to estimates), that is the only way to use a smartphone.  Oded Ben Dov, co-founder of the Sesame Phone's parent company Sesame Enable, started work on the touch-free phone after he received a call from Giora Livne, who had been quadriplegic for seven years.

Livne, a former Israeli navy commander and electrical power engineer, had seen Oded Ben Dov on television demonstrating a mobile video game that users could play by using head gestures.  The two did not know each other, but Livne decided to track down Oded Ben Dov anyway and ask him to create the touch-free smartphone.  Together the two took on the challenge and founded Sesame Enable, and with the help of an Indigogo campaign, they were able to make Livne's idea into a reality.

The Sesame Phone is actually a Google Nexus 5, with Sesame software installed on it that can enable users to navigate the phone's native Android platform.  The software is activated when a user says "Open Sesame," and can be deactivated when a user says "Close Sesame."  It works by using the phone's front-facing camera to track a person's head gestures.



For people who cannot usually use a smart phone without assistance, it can be hard to perform everyday tasks like making a call or sending a text with any sort of privacy.  With the Sesame Phone, Livne notes that he can finally call his wife without having listeners around.  And because of the many capabilities that modern smartphones have, he can also use it to control things within his home such as lights, television, and air conditioning.

According to Sesame Enable's website, the phone is made for people with spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, ALS, and more.  In 2014, Sesame Enable won a Verizon Powerful Answers award—an award which came with one million dollars.  After the win, the company announced on their Indigogo page that they had decided to donate all funds raised through the page to devices that will go to people in need.

You can find out more about the Sesame Phone and Sesame Enable on their website, or on Forbes, Today, Wired, Business Insider, Engaget, and other places as listed on their website.