During the COVID pandemic, Jora Singh found himself spending many more hours on the computer — his classes initially moved online, he had started to teach himself how to code. After a while, he noticed he was having wrist pain and back pain from the long hours at the keyboard. He started thinking of solutions.

“I have a huge passion for science, and I’ve been doing science fair projects since I was in grade four,” says Jora Singh, who recently finished grade nine.

This led to him developing a hands-free app for using your computer, DeviceABLE. Developed over the last year using his self-taught coding skills, DeviceABLE allows you to use head and facial movements to move your cursor, as well as use an onscreen keyboard. There’s also a voice feature for people who can’t use as much neck or head movement.

Jora Singh entered the project into the science fair at his school, earning a spot at the Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair. At the regional fair in April, he earned a gold medal, a special award, and an invite to the 2024 Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa. DeviceABLE continued to impress at the national fair, earning Jora Singh a gold excellence award, a challenge award, the Youth Can Innovate award, and $9,000 in scholarships.

As his app neared completion, Jora Singh received feedback from the Neil Squire Solutions team on the project. He also toured the Solutions lab, as well as Neil Squire’s Makers Making Change program, learning more about assistive technology and other devices that are available for people with disabilities.

“I’m very grateful for all their support,” he says, noting that he saw a need for a device that could combine the features of many different devices during his tour.

Jora Singh intends to release the DeviceABLE app free for everyone to use. He is currently working on improving the voice feature for the app, hoping to simplify the number of voice commands it takes to do tasks like writing an email.

“I’m still currently developing it,” he shares. “Hopefully it helps millions of people.”

Tags: assistive technology, BC, Solutions, students, youth