Psykinetic: bringing autonomy to young people living with profound disability

A purpose-led mission 

As a young person studying biomedical engineering, I was struggling to find my purpose until I came very close to breaking my neck diving into a pool, leaving me immobile for a few days. Fortunately for me, this was temporary, but it was long enough to think about what life is like for people living this way permanently.

It was the prompt I needed to find my purpose, in the beginning by developing a mind-controlled wheelchair, to eventually founding Psykinetic. For nearly 10 years, the wonderful Psykinetic team has been designing and innovating solutions for people who need them most. Bringing together biomedical technology, AI, robotics and alternative human-computer input systems such as eye-control and thought-control systems, has led to solutions that can really change the game.

Helping young people communicate and connect

What we’re passionate about is creating innovative technology that improves the lives of young people with severe and profound disabilities. We know the many challenges faced by the families we work with; from location accessibility, inclusivity of technology, communicating effectively, access to work opportunities, and access to many computing apps.

All of this influences opportunities for independence, connection, contribution, mental health and wellbeing, and their ability to achieve their dreams, something we believe everyone should have equal access to.

We’re working hard to make a difference here and we’re excited to partner with Telstra Foundation to make it happen. With years of research and co-design with people with disabilities we’ve developed AURA and Stargaze – solutions that help young people to use the likes of eye-control technology to communicate and interact with the world. AURA is a beautiful advanced computing device designed to mount to a wheelchair as well as stand on a tabletop, and the Stargaze Appstore is our software solution to independently launching and accessing a growing range of apps from Psykinetic and our partners. Together they can assist people to communicate and interact, type faster, work, and completely personalise.

It’s our close connection with people that makes us unique

More than this, it’s about assisting young people living with profound disabilities to find new ways of expressing themselves and interacting with their surroundings. This can also improve autonomy, agency, and empowerment, as well as being a source of fun and enjoyment.

Our approach to accessible technology with AURA and StarGaze is unique because of our close connection with the people we design for and a strong focus on software development, customisation, affordability, versatility and inclusivity. We believe these products will make a significant difference in the lives of people with disabilities globally, having a positive impact in this way is what drives us.

Thrilled to be working with Telstra Foundation

We’re connected with many people in our community to find out what issues they face and what they need to overcome them. Psykinetic has spent years working this way to understand the needs of individuals and families, to build something truly scalable, to inspire and promote collaboration and to ultimately give many people living with severe and profound disabilities the independence and quality of life they deserve.

We’re so pleased that the Telstra Foundation’s Young & Connected Fund is going to help us bring this product to so many more people.

We’re changing the game for young people with disability

Success for us is knowing we’re doing what we believe in – seeing one person using AURA as their full- time voice made the entire process truly worth it, but to know that we can scale this project and see many more people benefit from what we’re offering, that’ll be a whole new level.

I believe at the core of humanity is empathy and connection. When we’re changing hearts and minds with the work we do, we know we’re on the right path. We want to think big, connect further with our community globally, and drive forward a better future for young people.

We can’t wait to see AURA and StarGaze become a means of connection for our changemakers of tomorrow.

You can learn more about the work we do in the ABC documentary Becoming Superhuman Part 1 and Becoming Superhuman Part 2.

Visit Telstra’s Accessibility, diversity and inclusion hub for more information on our customer and community support initiatives.