Support the Eyewriter Project, Vote for Them to Win $250k

Pepsi is giving away $1.3 million to organizations as part of the company’s Refresh Project. The Not Impossible Foundation/The Eyewriter Project is in the running for a $250k chunk of change that would be used to equipe 1,000 paralyzed people with devices that would let them control computers with their eyes. There are plenty of worthy programs competing, but from what I’ve seen so far the Eyewriter Project could do the most good for the most people. The fact that there’s some gadgetry involved makes me like it even more.

So What is the Eyewriter Project? It’s an open-source project that’s designing software to help people suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease, spinal cord injuries, stroke, battlefield trauma and other ailments to use computers again. There are commercial solutions out there, but the Eyewriter Project pairs its software with cheap hardware that you can buy just about anywhere. The bill of materials for each unit is about $50.

The Eyewriter from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

You can build one of these units yourself by following the DIY instructions over at EyeWriter.org.

To vote for the Eyewriter Project to receive the cash from Pepsi, simply visit RefreshEverything.com or send a text Text 101957 to Pepsi (73774). You’re allowed to vote once per day using each method through the end of the month. The Eyewriter Project is currently in 49th place and needs to move up to at least 2nd place to win the funds. This project seems a lot more worthy than a horror film festival that’s currently occupying that spot.