Mac student showcases invention for Jimmy Fallon
Most McMaster University students spend the first week of September settling into the school year.
Emma Mogus spent it in New York City rubbing elbows with late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon.
Mogus, an 18-year-old Mac student starting the second year of her physics degree, was featured on Wednesday night’s episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” She appeared on a recurrent segment called “Fallonventions,” which showcases child and teen inventors from across North America.
Mogus’ invention, called the TiC (short for the Tongue-Interface-Communication project) allows people to direct a computer mouse with their tongue. It allows those with ALS, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, paralysis and mobility issues to easily navigate a computer.
Her invention involves a hockey mouthguard — snatched from her brother’s hockey bag, as she told Fallon — that has been outfitted with five buttons. Each button allows the user to move up, down, left, right, or click.
“You can essentially have full functionality of the computer, just by using your tongue,” Mogus said.
Mogus, who attracted the attention of the “Tonight Show” producers after winning the Ontario Science Centre’s 2016 Weston Youth Innovation Award, says she was inspired to create the TiC by a friend who had been afflicted with ALS.
“I saw how he had difficulty with making his needs and wants known verbally,” she explained. “I was just so driven to help my friend.”
Mogus and her parents were flown to New York City for the taping. After meeting Fallon at a quick rehearsal, she filmed the segment in front of the Tonight Show’s live audience.
“He’s just as hilarious and charismatic in person as he is on screen. You can definitely see how enthusiastic he is about kids and inventing,” she said.
For the segment, Fallon used the TiC (wrapped in a protective plastic baggie) to purchase a Tonight Show mug. He also showed Mogus his own invention — a hamburger shaped like a hotdog.
“It was a great balance of innovation of technology and fun and comedy,” said Mogus.
The teen’s invention is only one way she has helped change the world for the better. She is also the founder of Books with No Bounds, a nonprofit, volunteer organization that has distributed 205,000 books to Indigenous communities around the world.
For more information about Mogus and her initiatives, visit the Books With No Bounds Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bookswithnobounds.