TECHNOLOGY ENABLES
QUADRIPLEGIC CHILD TO FILM WILDLIFE AND ASPIRE TO FILM CAREER
Presenter #1
Doug Conaway
Conaway Electric
305 Baines Ave.
Sonoma
CA
95476
Day Phone: (707) 935-7647
Fax: (707) 935-7647
Email: dougconaway@sbcglobal.net
Presenter # 2
Tom Conaway
305 Baines Ave
Sonoma
CA
95476
Day Phone: (707) 935-7647
Fax: (707) 935-7647
Email: tomconaway@sbcglobal .net
When he was 4 years old Tom Conaway was in a car
accident that incurred his spinal cord injury, and since that time he has been
quadriplegic. At 5 he began to operate an electric wheel chair with a joystick.
Within two years of Toms accident, the Conaway family
had assimilated Toms special physical needs into their daily routines, and they
were primed to push through any more obstacles that might fall on their path.
As Tom was approaching his 7th birthday, his parents, Doug and Alice Conaway,
faced another pressing parenting challenge. Toms
accident had not stopped his two siblings from progressing through age
appropriate activities enjoyed by American children. Doug and Alice recognized
Tombs need for meaningful activities and outlets of his own to pursue, but his
quadriplegia limited his options.
Problem solving, innovation, and technology come naturally to Doug Conaway, who
has worked as an electrical contractor in
Technology Facilitated Activity & Creativity
Doug mounted a Sony VCT-870RM tripod on Tombs wheel chair to hold the camera at
the level of Tombs chest. The camera was a Sony DCR-PC100
a Digital Handycam camera, and Tom operated it by
using its remote. with this set up Tom used the cameras
LCD screen to view subjects, and he used chair navigation to position his
camera. (conawayl.jpg)
Tom and Doug began filming his older brother’s football team during practice
and games while Doug filmed from the stands, Tom cruised up and down the field
filming, and the coaches used both shoots for training purposes. The Conaway
family has always enjoyed being in nature an drawing
spiritual strength from it. So when football season ended, Tom and Doug began
going to wetlands to film birds. This has become their passion, and they have
established the
consumer-level video camera equipment lacks sufficient
magnification to film birds in the distance. Therefore getting good shots of
birds requires being amongst them. Tom and Doug typically set up before
daybreak, camouflaged themselves, and filmed birds at close range.
Toms level of injury requires that when he is in a wheel chair he must be
tilted back so that he does not fall forward. Consequently
when filming from the chest using a tripod, the angle of Toms chair is not
level to the ground. To provide Tom with the ability to film at any
angle and look through a camera viewfinder, Doug created a hardhat camera
mount. A U shaped metal mounting bracket is attached to both sides of an
industrial hardhat to secure the camera at the level of Tom’s eye.
Counterbalance weights are attached to the back of the hat, with this set-up,
Tom uses head control to position his camera. This means that the moment that
Tom sees a flying object he can begin filming it. (conoway2.jpg)
Professional-level video camera equipment supports the use of powerful
• telephoto lenses, which makes shooting from a distance possible. Because
filming is less intrusive, these shoots enable photographers to capture a
greater range of wildlife interactions. Tom has sufficient strength and head
control to use a 2x telephoto converter on his camera; however, camera
stability is compromised because additional lenses make the hardhat heavier,
consequently magnification options are very limited using the hardhat mount
configuration.
professionals use motor controlled pan tilt heads to
stabilize video cameras, and these cameras are operated with motorized controls
that are driven by a joystick. Doug has researched and identified the proper
set-up for Tom. Existing products in the Dimmy Jib
product line, manufactured by Stanton Video Services, would bring Tom the versatility
to film as proficiently as any able-bodied person outfitting Tom will cost $25K
but the conaways have faith that at some point they will get funded to obtain
this technology for Tom. (http://www.jimmyjib.com/remotehead.html#Anchor-own-33869).
A
Technology Enabled career Goal
At the Nascar races this
year, Tom and Doug observed the technology used to operate the cameras that
film the event. The camera is on a motor controlled pan tilt head that is
mounted on a crane. The camera operator uses a joystick to control the motor,
and the crane is controlled manually. The crane -s counter-balanced such that
the camera operators moving it 60 moves the boom end
of the crane with the camera 100. Tom and Doug realized that Tom had capability
to operate this set-up. Using normal wheel chair navigation in combination with
the chairs ability to move up and down, Tom could move throughout the range
that is used by the camera operator does. http://www.jimmyjib.com/triangle.html
Dougs devotion to his son and
his pragmatic talents continue to surface creative and practical solutions to
surmount Toms mobility challenges. Doug knows what is possible and feasible;
moreover, he has the skill to fabricate innovations that he can afford. Technology
has given Tom independence and creativity throughout his childhood. He enters
his teens with adroit joystick enabled mobility, finessed head control, and 5
years of experience moving and filming people and birds in motion. This summer
the El Nido Teen Center in
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