# Assistive Technology **Domain:** Accessibility / Human-Machine Symbiosis **Doc Type:** Canonical Technology Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Assistive technology** comprises devices and systems that support a person's communication, mobility, perception, cognition or independent action. ## Evolutionary Nexus Stephen Hawking's public life made machine-mediated communication visible, while [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] frames technology more broadly as cognitive and metabolic exteriorization. ## Rights Context Assistive systems can become part of effective embodiment. Users therefore need repair, interoperability, privacy, update control and protection against service termination. Dependency increases the provider's duty; it does not reduce the user's standing. ## See Also [[wiki/Human-Machine Symbiosis|Human-Machine Symbiosis]], [[wiki/Remote Embodiment|Remote Embodiment]], [[wiki/Design for Dignity|Design for Dignity]], [[wiki/Perceptual Sovereignty|Perceptual Sovereignty]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “As Giordano of Pisa noted in 1306, "It is not twenty years since there was discovered the art of making spectacles that help one see well, an art that is one of the best and most necessary in the world." Eyeglasses doubled the useful working life of scribes and skilled craftsmen who were otherwise liable to suffer from farsightedness (presbyopia) from the age of around 40. The historian David Landes has suggested that this use of technology overcame what had previously been regarded as an unavoidable human limitation then spurred further innovations of a similar nature, such as the development of fine optical instruments and precision machine tools.” > **— Tom Standage**, *2010, Edge Annual Question, “HOW IS THE INTERNET CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK?”* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Eyeglasses Overcame a Supposedly Unavoidable Human Limitation by Tom Standage|Eyeglasses Overcame a Supposedly Unavoidable Human Limitation by Tom Standage]]