32 and 16 Years Ago - Computer Help

32 and 16 Years Ago - Computer Help

aac assistive tech Assistive Technology augmentative communication

From: IEEE Computer - January 2014 - page 16

 

Personal computers aid the handicapped

From: IEEE Computer - January 1982

By: Ware Myers - Computer staff

 

"The personal computer provides a new kind of leverage for bringing aid to the handicapped," declared Paul L. Hazan, director of the First National Search for Applications of Personal Computing to Aid the Handicapped. The search was conducted by the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University with funding provided by the National Science Foundation and Radio Shack, a division of Tandy Corporation. The Computer Society was a program associate of the effort.

 

"Over the years a great deal of worthy research has gone on," Hazan continued. Unfortunately the end result of much of the earlier research in the field was costly special-purpose equipment that sometimes ran as much as

$70,000 to $100,000 per individual helped. Consequently, it was difficult to find funds to get the products into the marketplace. Moreover, continued maintenance of special-purpose equipment was difficult and expensive. The final payoff - the number of handicapped helped - was therefore limited.

 

Personal computer leverage. The advent of mass marketed and reasonably priced computers brings with it the potential for change in the existing situation, Hazan pointed out. He mentioned that although it has long been recognized that computers extend an individual's mental reach, in the case of the handicapped (with restricted physical capabilities), the possibility also exists to extend the physical reach of this group of users.

 

If the personal computer can be brought to bear on this problem, there are a number of built-in advantages. First, it is now low enough in cost for the handicapped themselves, or their families and friends, to afford; alternatively, in the workplace an employer can finance it for a potential employee. This makes a large, centrally financed support program unnecessary.

 

Secondly, the infrastructure for the application of personal computers already exists. There is a nationwide - even worldwide - network of dealers, maintenance, and training, and arrangements for the distribution of programs are growing.

 

Finally, personal computers to aid the handicapped constitute a significant business opportunity, both for the makers and marketers of personal computers and for those who construct and sell peripherals and input/output devices.

Given 20 million handicapped in the United States (a conservative estimate), Hazan calculates that if only two percent of them acquire a personal computer, they would create a potential market of 400,000 buyers - a figure in the same ball park as the total number of personal computers sold to date.

Assuming that the average price for the units is $2000, including peripherals, input/output devices, and programs, the actual dollar value of this market is $800,000,000. "Enough for industry to pay attention," Hazan noted. And the two percent market is just a guess. No doubt it will ultimately be much more. The point is that while the personal computer may be just a hobby for the able-bodied, with the proper applications it can become a necessity for people with a variety of disabilities. 

 

The search for applications. The First National Search, announced in November 1980, was an effort to bring grassroots initiatives to bear on the task of finding a variety of methods to apply the personal computer to the needs of the handicapped. It was highlighted by a national competition for ideas, devices, methods, and computer programs to help handicapped people overcome difficulties in learning, working, and successfully adapting to home and community settings.

 

In the spring, orientation workshops were held at major rehabilitation centers throughout the United States to bring together potential "inventors,"

handicapped people, and professionals in the educational, technical, and rehabilitation fields. Over 900 entries were received by the June 30, 1981 deadline.

 

In August regional exhibits were held in ten cities - Boston, New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle. Awards were made to over 100 regional winners. From the pool of regional winners a national panel of judges selected 30 entrants to exhibit their work in Washington, DC. Of these, 28 made it to the Great Hall of the National Academy of Sciences on October 31 and November 1, attracting substantial numbers of the handicapped and those who work with them, as well as three or four television news crews. One of the reporters, himself blind, represented National Public Radio. 

 

The next day the winners were honored at a banquet in the Mayflower Hotel.

This banquet was also attended by government and industry representatives with an interest in the subject. At the dinner the three top-place winners and seven honorable mention recipients were named (see photos and box).

 

During the following two days the 28 winners explained their developments at a workshop held at the Applied Physics Laboratory, near Washington.

Proceedings of this conference containing almost 100 papers - all the regional and national winners - are available from the Computer Society. 

 

What next? The Applied Physics Laboratory has a National Science Foundation grant to study the feasibility of setting up a data base to hold application programs for the handicapped. The search turned up a number of excellent programs and some means of making them available to handicapped users is needed. If the idea is feasible and funding becomes available, a potential user could dial up the data base, select programs of interest from a menu, view a demonstration of the program he selects, and ultimately download it into his own equipment.

 

The First National Search is now history and the word first implies a second.

There seems to be general agreement that the making of inventions is too time-consuming for an annual search to be practical. The receipt of inquiries from 19 countries also suggests that something more than "national" is needed. Hazan expects another search to follow, but there is much work to be done and funds to be raised before it can be launched.

 

Photo Caption:

Lewis F. Kornfeld (left), retired president of Radio Shack, presents the first prize of $10,000 to Harry Levitt of the City University of New York for his Portable Telecommunicator for the Deaf. Levitt programmed a TRS 80 pocket computer to send and receive messages over the telephone via a TRS interface, enabling the deaf to commuhicate with each other or with their normal-hearing friends.

 

The other award winners were

Second Prize ($3000): Mark Friedman, Mark Dzmura, Gary Kiliany, and Drew Anderson - Eye Tracker

 

Third Prize ($1500): Robin L. Hight - Lip Reader Trainer

 

Honorable Mention Awards ($500):

Joseph T. Cohn - Augmentative Communication Devices Randy W. Dipner - Micro-Braille System Sandra J. Jackson - Programs for Learning Disabled David L. Jaffe - Ultrasonic Head Control for Wheelchair Raymond Kurzweil - Reading Machine for Blind Paul F. Schwejda - Firmware Card and Training Disk Robert E. Stepp III - Braille Word Processor

 

Source: http://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/co/1982/01/01653842.pdf

(IEEE membership required)

For Those Unable To Talk, A Machine That Speaks Their Voice

For Those Unable To Talk, A Machine That Speaks Their Voice

aac als amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Assistive Technology augmentative communication mnd

Via NPR -- All Things Considered

To listen to the story and hear Carl's voice banked phrases, go to

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/25/280708234/for-those-unable-to-talk-a-machine-that-speaks-their-voice

by Gabriel Spitzer

February 25, 2014 4:00 PM

fromKPLU

             

Carl Moore, a former helicopter mechanic, was diagnosed with ALS 20 years ago. He has had unusual longevity for someone with ALS but expects someday to rely on his wheelchair and speech-generating device.

Carl Moore, a former helicopter mechanic, was diagnosed with ALS 20 years ago. He has had unusual longevity for someone with ALS but expects someday to rely on his wheelchair and speech-generating device.

It's hard to imagine a more devastating diagnosis than ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease. For most people, it means their nervous system is going to deteriorate until their body is completely immobile. That also means they'll lose their ability to speak.


So Carl Moore of Kent, Wash., worked with a speech pathologist to record his own voice to use later — when he can no longer talk on his own.


Most ALS patients live only a few years after diagnosis, but Moore, a former helicopter mechanic, is the exception — he was diagnosed 20 years ago. At the beginning, he lost use of his hands, and it wasn't until years later that he found that the symptoms were affecting his speech.

ii

Carl Moore shows some of the phrases he's recorded in his own voice and stored on his speech-generating device.

Carl Moore shows some of the phrases he's recorded in his own voice and stored on his speech-generating device.

"You can hear my three-shots-of-tequila speech," he says. "And it does get worse as I get tired."
So several years ago, before that slur crept in, he recorded hundreds of messages and uploaded them to the speech device he'll someday rely on. The machine looks like a chunky tablet computer, and it would normally sound like a robot. But now, instead, it will sound like Moore.


"It's almost like preserving a piece of yourself," he says. "I've taken auditory pictures of who I am."

Moore's banked messages range from the practical ("I feel tired") to the absurd ("You know what? Your driving sucks") and somewhere in the middle ("Hey, my butt itches. Would you give it a bit of a scratch?").

Moore is kind of a snarky guy — some of his messages can't be played in decent company. It's a part of his personality that he's rescuing from the disease.


And it's not just for his own benefit. Message banking also helps his caregiver: his wife, Merilyn.
"If it's a computer voice, I think it's harsh," she says, "whereas if it's his own voice, I can feel like he's actually speaking those words."


John Costello, a speech pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital, is credited with inventing the clinical use of voice banking. He says it can make a big difference in people's quality of life.
"If you wanted to say something like, 'You're the love of my life,' having that in synthetic speech is devastating," Costello says.


One patient's wife, he says, contacted him shortly after her husband's death. "She wrote to me that the work that we did was the only bright forward movement. Everything was about loss, except the possibility of communication."

The person helping Carl and Merilyn preserve that possibility is Roberta Kelley, a speech pathologist at Seattle's Virginia Mason Hospital. She says ALS is really a relentless march toward disability and death. But this lets people snatch something back from it.

"It gives the patient something to do when they have no control over the disease," she says.
Yet for all its benefits, in Kelley's clinic, only a fraction of patients actually do it.


"The ones that don't do it can't deal with it," she says. "They don't want to think about using an electronic piece of equipment to talk. So most of them nod, smile and do nothing."


Heartbreakingly, many come back hoping to record their voices after it's too late.


Carl, on the other hand, brings a mechanic's pragmatism to the project, and he's clearly having some fun too. Besides letting him razz Merilyn for years to come, the recordings will become an archive for her.

“If you wanted to say something like, 'You're the love of my life,' having that in synthetic speech is devastating."

"I see this also as a legacy, which will feel like his presence with me even after he's gone," she says.
So Merilyn wants to make sure Carl has banked the really important things — which raises a question: Where, among the witty barbs and the practical lines, were the messages of tenderness, of intimacy?


"My conversations are mostly sarcastic," he says. "She asked me before we left if I had the phrase 'I love you,' and I realized I didn't."


He says he'll make more recordings at some point — sooner rather than later. The trouble, he says, is his voice has already gone downhill.


"We'll see how it works out. I'm not comfortable with recording my voice as it is," he says.
"I think that it's important that we capture you as you are now," Merilyn says. "We love you as you are now just as much as eight years ago."


"So I will record, 'Yes, dear.' "


Later, Carl dug back through his hard drive and discovered that he had, indeed, recorded himself saying "I love you." He added it to the device that will someday speak for him.

The Eyes Have It-- Eye Gaze Technology

The Eyes Have It-- Eye Gaze Technology

aac als amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Assistive Technology augmentative communication Eye Gaze mnd

by David Harraway

Eye Gaze technology may provide some people with disabilities with effective access to required communication and computer control functions where other methods prove too difficult or inefficient for them.

Current commercially available systems consist of an eye tracking camera plus a software interface, which allows the person to bring their own computer hardware. Speech generating devices with integrated Eye Gaze units are also available.


Eye Gaze is an Assistive Technology (AT) area that has undergone significant advances in recent years. Two current leading systems available in Australia are Tobii PCEye Go (manufactured by Tobii Technologies, Sweden) and Inteligaze CAM30NT (from Alea Technologies, Germany). Both are sold with advanced mouse control interaction and basic popup onscreen keyboards. When coupled with additional specialized and fully integrated software, these systems can offer increased independence with required communication and computer control functions.


New mainstream eye tracking options are now available and have generated some interest online in Assistive Technology discussion forums. This interest has largely been due to the lower cost of the hardware. My Gaze is one of these and was shown at the Eurogamer Expo 2013 to positive reviews. Q4 2013 saw the arrival of the Eye Tribe tracker (theeyetribe.com ). Just last month, Tobii featured the Tobii Eye X at Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show. Both Eye Tribe and Tobii Eye X are on the market as “developer release” and are available online for between US $100 -200.
It needs to be stated clearly from the outset that the primary purpose of a developer release is to allow programmers to make their new and existing applications compatible with Eye Gaze access. These systems do not and should not be directly compared to fully -integrated assistive technology solutions as they lack the necessary features and setting adjustments that are normally required to make them work for a person with a disability. Both Tobii and Eye Tribe offer a software development (SDK) which allows developers to link the camera to their specific application.


Key differences between a ‘developer’ camera and a fully supported commercial AT system are noted here:

1. Developer releases ship with minimal software. The Eye Tribe model, for example, offers an eye mouse moving option; but does not provide the sophisticated computer interaction utilities available in Tobii’s Gaze Interaction or Alea’s Desktop 2.0
2. Both units ship with only limited support from the manufacturer. Eye Tribe have a user forum for developers and users to ask questions. At the time of writing there have been several questions asked and resolved.
3. There are hardware and operating system requirements that must be satisfied. For example, the Eye Tribe tracker is USB 3 (usually a blue socket) connection only and operating systems below Windows 7 are not supported. However, there is hope for other OS support. In 2013, Eye Tribe showed an earlier version of their system working on an Android tablet (You Tube) and their current promotional video demonstrates what appears to be Apple OSX functionality; and the Eye Tribe site states than an OSX SDK will be available in April 2014.
4. To purchase a developer kit, you must agree to develop for the product in the licensing agreement. I purchased my Eye Tribe tracker with the intent of learning to code basic Windows applications. Microsoft Visual Studio has a free version and there are tutorials online for learning the programming languages supported. The Eye Tribe developer forum has links to one or two applications already made eye gaze compatible (Fruit Ninja being one).
5. Eye tracking cameras are known to be subject to environmental effects. Chief among these are the level and direction of light in the room. Other known factors to consider when investigating eye gaze access include: user movement (head control), visual and perceptual skills, and level of intentionality to the task.

This last sub-point is of particular interest among AT professionals and other team members, as at least some of the learning we have had in past few years has been directed towards the possibility of using Eye Gaze systems with people who may present with conditions resulting in an Intellectual Disability. As some people with ID have significant communication challenges, the standard methods for setting up systems (instruct the person to track a calibration plot around the screen and fixate on it until it moves on) may not be relevant. However, software developers such as Sensory Software have made programs such as Look to Learn  that provide a series of engaging activities which grade up from the most basic (glance past the target) to more complex (choice making and built sequence of actions). A demo version is available with sample activities to explore. As noted elsewhere on this blog, it is also possible to use Clicker 6 with Eye Gaze access, as the program includes dwell click interaction (look at target and hold until the pre-set dwell time is achieved). Tobii’s Eye Gaze Learning Curve  is an excellent model of how progression through this AT area might look; and provides resources (including video tutorials) and suggested activities.

Review of Eye Tribe Development Kit

The kit ships with :

• Eye Tribe eye tracker camera
• 2m USB 3 ribbon cable
• Small adjustable tripod stand
• Instructions and link to download the software drivers and SDK

Software installation was simple and progressed with a hitch. It should be noted that the software does not appear to ship with an uninstaller utility.
Once the software was installed the camera was plugged in and the software run. The software runs a tutorial on first run which covers aspects such as positioning the eye tracker camera and also an initial calibration. A calibration score is obtained (I received perfect!) and then an interface screen with options is shown:

Options include :

• API console (shows the eye tracking events in real time data)
• Online Help (links to the Developer section of the Eye Tribe site)
• Start in demo mode (shows setup screens at start up)
• Mouse Gaze (enables eye tracking mouse function)
• Mouse Smooth (reduces shudder effect in Eye Mouse)

A track status window displays whether the users eyes are in the correct position (indicated by colour and the presence of the eye graphics)
The Calibration screen is also accessible from here:

This screen allows the setup of the calibration related functions. Included options are:

• Number of points of calibration (9, 12, or 16. More points is usually correlated with a more accurate result)
• Sample rate (time point is held before the next one is offered)
• Monitor being calibrated (as in the case with multimonitor setups or an external display)
• Vertical and horizontal alignment
• Area size (area in which calibration and tracking occurs)
• Background and Point colours (preferred contrast /colours, custom colours available)

In mouse move mode, I found the tracking to be consistent across the both screens tested (17” widescreen and 13” widescreen). There was a mild amount of tracking shudder when I paused over targets. I used Sensory Software Dwell Clicker 2 to generate mouse click events. This worked effectively and I was able to select targets down to the usual 20mmx20mm level (this is an established threshold of accurate tracking for eye gaze technology).


I also tested the tracking in mouse mode with both Tobii Communicator 4 Sono Key and The Grid 2 Fast Talker 2 pagesets set to dwell click and direct mouse selection. As the Eye Tribe tracker is new, it does not show up in the list of internally supported trackers for either program. At time of testing, the Eye Tribe tracker did not work with The Grid 2 on our machine.


The Eye Tribe tracker is compatible with a basic free AAC program called Gaze Talk  which was developer for COGAIN www.cogain.org a collaboration between EU Eye Gaze manufacturers, academics, users, and other interested parties


In conclusion, currently the Eye Tribe tracker is primarily of interest to technical people and hobbyists; and also for the potential of the business model (release to software developers) to drive innovation in making applications eye-gaze accessible. Crowd sourced funding, and the direct relationships with developers that are now possible because of social media, offer some degree of promise for new directions in Assistive Technology that may make it more accessible and affordable to people wishing to explore these options.




http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/blog/tools-and-resources/the-eyes-have-it/
----------------------------------
About the Writer:

David is an Occupational Therapist at ComTEC Yooralla, a Victorian statewide assistive technology advisory and information service. He assists people with disabilities and their teams to problem solve solutions in the areas of equipment for communication, computer access, mounting, and environmental control. David is also a Clinical Advisor to the Statewide Equipment Program in the area of Environmental Control Units; and has presented at local, national and international conferences. He is passionate about the potential of Assistive Technology to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

View all posts by David Harraway

Low-cost tech helps brain-injured patients speak

Low-cost tech helps brain-injured patients speak

aac als amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Assistive Technology augmentative communication Eye Gaze mnd motor neuron disease

By Tanya Lewis

Published February 17, 2014

LiveScience

• 
  The nonprofit SpeakYourMind Foundation built a low-cost eye-tracking system to help stroke patient Maggie Worthen communicate. (YouTube screenshot)

Editor's Note: This writer was a colleague of the founder of SpeakYourMind in Brown University's BrainGate lab.


A week before Maggie Worthen was due to graduate from Smith College, she suffered a severe brain stem stroke that left her unable to move or speak. She was only 22. Maggie's doctors diagnosed her as being in a persistent vegetative state. But Maggie's mother kept looking for a way to get through to her daughter.


Maggie was able to move one eye, and over time it became clear that her mind was intact, but she was essentially trapped inside her body. Using an expensive eye-tracking system, Maggie was able to communicate rudimentarily. But the system was complicated and required a lot of adjustments to work properly, said Maggie's mother, Nancy Worthen.


"There are so many people like [Maggie]," Nancy Worthen said. "They're frustrated because their computer is broken, or doesn't have the right software."


Then, Maggie and her mom met Dan Bacher.


Simple and affordable


Bacher is the founder and executive director of the SpeakYourMind Foundation, a nonprofit in Providence, R.I., that develops low-cost technologies to restore communication to people who lack the ability due to stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease), brain injury or other problems. The nonprofit spun off from the BrainGate lab at Brown University, which is developing a brain-computer interface to allow people with paralysis to control computers or a prosthetic arm using their thoughts alone. [5 Crazy Technologies That Are Revolutionizing Biotech]


Maggie started working with SpeakYourMind in July 2013. Bacher and his team developed a prototype eye-tracking tool called "SYMeyes" consisting of a webcam mounted on a pair of what Bacher calls "hipster" glasses, with custom-made software that allows Maggie to answer yes or no questions by moving her eye. The eye-tracker system cost about $30. Comparable systems on the market run about $10,000 to $15,000, Bacher said.









Cathy Hutchinson, 58, was a participant in a clinical trial of the BrainGate system. Cathy suffered a stroke 16 years ago that, like Maggie's, left her paralyzed and unable to speak. Cathy made headlines in 2012 when she used BrainGate to control a robotic arm to pick up and drink from a bottle.


Bacher developed a system that allowed Cathy to spell words by controlling a computer cursor on a virtual keyboard, using signals from the BrainGate implant. Now, he has built a device that allows her to control the cursor by raising an eyebrow. The virtual keyboard also suggests word completions to speed up typing. [Photos: Quadriplegic Woman Uses Mind-Controlled Prosthesis]


"I started building prototypes and solutions while full-time at Brown," Bacher said. "The experience of successfully building a couple of these prototypes made me realize that if I built a bunch, I could really help a lot of people," he told Live Science.


Custom-built solutions


Bacher assembled a team of volunteers and students to develop low-cost, personalized eye-tracking and head-tracking technologies, using basic components available at most electronics stores, a laptop and custom software.


The key insight, Bacher said, is personalization. "It could be taking stuff off-the-shelf or building something completely from scratch it depends on a person's abilities or needs," he added.


Another SpeakYourMind participant, Aaron Loder, 52, has ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive disease that causes degeneration of the nerve cells and spinal cord. After Aaron was diagnosed with ALS, he attended his high-school reunion and remained active on Facebook. But over time he dropped off the map, his classmates said.


Aaron's classmate Maureen Delaney went to visit him in the rehab hospital where he was living, and what she found shocked her. Aaron was on a respirator with a feeding tube, and completely unable to communicate. He didn't have any family to advocate for him either, Delaney said.


Aaron "wants to be able to communicate with the outside world," Delaney told Live Science. "He misses people."


In October 2013, Delaney read an article about SpeakYourMind in the local newspaper, and got in touch with Bacher. Now, SpeakYourMind is developing a version of the eye-tracking glasses to allow Aaron to communicate and control a computer so that he can use Facebook to connect with his friends again.


SpeakYourMind's work aims to help not only Maggie, Cathy and Aaron, but anyone who has difficulty communicating, whether it's because of a brain injury or illness, or even disorders such as autism.


The nonprofit is supported mostly by donations and is currently pursuing a crowd-funding campaign on the website indiegogo, which ends at 2:59 p.m. ET Monday (Feb 17). So far, the campaign has raised more than $22,000.


As for Bacher, "My personal goal," he said, "is to help as many people as possible."
Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

iOS, Android, MS Surface Pro 2 Comparisons

iOS, Android, MS Surface Pro 2 Comparisons

als amyotrophic lateral sclerosis android Assistive Technology augmentative communication ipad mnd

The following webinar is being offered by ATIA (Assistive Technology Industry Association) and may be helpful to people trying to understand the differences between tablets. 


Detailed Listing

Webinar Type: Live Broadcast Webinar Code: AT14-WEB06-LB Webinar Title:  iOS, Android, MS Surface Pro 2 Comparisons Speaker(s): Therese Willkomm, Director of ATinNH, University of New Hampshire   Live Webinar Date/Time: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 3:30 - 5:00 PM (Note: All times are Eastern Time Zone) Webinar Fee:  $49.00 Overview: Not all tablets are the same. This webinar will discuss the differences between an iPad tablet with iOS7; a Galaxy Note 10.1 using the Android operating system; and the Surface Pro 2 using Windows 8.1 operating system. The review and demonstrations will focus on accessibility features as well as available apps to support individuals with disabilities Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to describe as least three different accessibility feature for each of the three different operating systems for three different tablets - Android, IOS, and Windows operating systems Participants will be able to identify and list at least five different apps for each of the three operation systems that can benefit an individual with a disability. Participants will be able to discuss the core differences in the operation systems on the three tablets related to cognitive impairments, physical impairments, and sensory impairments. Participants will be able to identify at least five different access methods that can be used with all three devices. Speaker Bio/s: Therese Willkomm, PhD ATP is the Director of New Hampshire’s State Assistive Technology Program with the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and has a half time clinical faculty appointment in the Department of Occupational Therapy as the Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate Program in Assistive Technology at UNH. She holds a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science and Technology and has over 25 years experience in providing/managing assistive technology services for individual with disabilities. She is known nationally and internationally as “The McGyver” of Assistive Technology. And more recently as an expert in Apps and iPad Adaptations. Dr. Willkomm has presented over 500 assistive technology workshops in 38 states, seven foreign countries and three U.S. Territories; conducted 22 national assistive technology webinars; create over 600 assistive technology inventions; created and distributed nationally over 1,000 assistive technology empowerment kits; developed and posted over 350 “How-To” Assistive Technology related video clips on YouTube; and authored 22 publications including her most recent book titled “Assistive Technology Solutions in Minutes – Book 2 – Ordinary Items Extraordinary Solutions Strand: Physical Access/Mobility - Computer Access/Positioning Target Audience:  Accessibility Professionals, ADA administrators, AT Professionals, Educators, Family members, Higher Ed personnel, Individuals with Disabilities, OTs, PTs, SLPs, Rehab Engineers, SPED teachers, Voc Rehab Counselors Archive End Date (if applicable): 02/26/2016

Disabled Pennsburg (PA) woman puts Google Glass to the test

Disabled Pennsburg (PA) woman puts Google Glass to the test

als assistive tech assistivetechnology google glass mnd

Sarah Brendle is will provide Google with input on how the device can help others with ALS.

By Tim Darragh, Of The Morning Call

Sarah Brendle was in her mid-30s — a typical married working mom with two young boys — when she began to notice weakness in her legs and a debilitating fatigue.

Consultations with several doctors led to a devastating conclusion: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a degenerative disease of the neurological system that leads to paralysis and death.


Once the shock wore off, the Pennsburg woman started thinking about family milestones that might happen without her — soccer games played by her boys, Dillon and Eli, their birthdays, holidays.

                                

• Local woman with ALS tests Google Glass
• Pictures: Sarah Brendle tests a Google Glass
• Sarah Brendle tests Google Glass
• 
  
• "When you're diagnosed, you think about the things you will miss," she said.

                                                                                                  

Fortunately, Brendle's disease has progressed slowly. Five years since learning she had ALS, that weakness is still there, but Brendle, now 40, can still walk and use her hands and arms. She also managed to have another child, Phoebe, who is 3.
The day will come, however, when she will find walking and even lifting her arm too difficult.
That's why she's excited to be participating in a beta test of Google Glass, which is essentially a wearable smartphone that can be operated with touch and voice commands. As part of development of the high-tech eyeglasses, Google is soliciting consumers' input, including the thoughts of people with disabilities.
As it works now, the wearer slips the device around the face like a pair of glasses. It can be worn alone or on top of prescription eyewear. Once the user starts it with a touch, he can activate applications with eye movement or a finger swipe on the side of the device. Information is projected as if viewed from a computer screen that is several feet away. It's not in the user's direct field of vision, so eyesight is not impaired.
It operates like a smartphone. Even with just a basic beta version, Brendle's Google Glass can take pictures, send messages and visit websites.
Brendle says it's "cool" to be part of the cutting edge of a new application of technology.
But in the not-too-distant future, Google Glass could allow people with ALS and other neurologic disabilities to perform daily activities and maintain independence, said Frank Hyland, vice president of rehabilitation at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network.
"It opens up the world to you," he said.
Brendle received the glasses last week from Alisa Brownlee, an assistive technologist at the ALS Association's Greater Philadelphia Chapter.
Not anyone can get Google Glass just yet. The company has some customers and so-called "Explorers" who request the early version of the device and, if approved, can buy it for $1,500. Brownlee said the foundation was approved and now is sharing it with Brendle and other people with ALS to get their feedback.
Brownlee looks forward to when Google Glass will help reconnect ALS patients to their communities, especially those who cannot afford adaptive vans costing as much as $40,000. If the individual is unable to get to an event, someone there can record a video of it and stream it to the user's Glass, where it can be viewed as it occurs. As any parent of a soccer player knows, fields can be far from parking lots, making attendance a big challenge for people like Brendle.
There are other obstacles. Snowy weather, for example, increases isolation for people with ALS.
"Some days, you don't feel you have the option to go out," Brendle said, noting that she's at high risk for falling any time.
Google Glass also could have practical, daily use too. Brendle said it could spare her the energy it would take to get up out of her seat to call her husband if she needs him when he's out of the house.
"I can tap it and send him a text saying, 'Can you come in five minutes?' Piece of cake."
Google Glass still needs tweaking before it can be embraced by all ALS users, Brownlee said. Some people with ALS cannot raise their arm to swipe it. Others have lost their ability to talk, rendering its voice activation useless. Those are challenges Google developers will have to overcome, she said.


One of the benefits Google Glass has over other technology is it doesn't require positioning, as eye gaze devices do, Brownlee said. That would help those who lose strength in their neck muscles and cannot keep their heads upright, she said. Eye gaze technology, first developed for military applications, uses an infrared light reader to give disabled people the ability to type with their eyes.
According to Hyland and John Grencer, administrative manager at Good Shepherd's technology program, Google Glass is one of a number of new devices that hold great promise for people with disabilities. The virtual reality headset called Oculus Rift may help those with limited control of their extremities, they said. Other technology in the works, but still far off, would use brain waves to command external actions.
They also foresee cloud-based software programs working with Google Glass that could help people with brain injuries remember to do daily tasks, or for those with autism spectrum disorders to recognize others' emotions.

• Related
• 
• Pictures: Sarah Brendle tests a Google Glass
• Sarah Brendle tests Google Glas

• • X
    Computer Hardware
    Diseases and Illnesses
    Brendle's Incorporated

It's all about finding ways to get technology to fit with human beings who have different needs and abilities.

                                                                                                  

"This has been the year of user interfaces," Grencer said.
Another benefit: Just as common technology like DVD players and smartphones got cheaper as they developed and attained market acceptance, so too will Google Glass. The current $1,500 price tag is expected to come down to around $500, they said. That's a lot more affordable and obviously a preferable option to an eye gaze device, which cost $30,000 a few years ago but still goes for around $7,500, Grencer said.
Google officials have been hazy about when a full retail rollout may occur, but it could be as soon as this year. They may soon have competition, as the Korea Times recently reported that Samsung is coming out with its version of wearable technology in the fall. Google's public relations staff did not return a message seeking further comment.
Meantime, Grencer and Brendle said Google should be commended for seeking input from a diverse group, including people with ALS.
The device certainly will "boost morale" among people with disabilities, Brendle said. Anything that increases their sense of security and independence will be embraced, she said.
"It gives them hope," she said, "because people with disabilities need something to be excited about."


Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-als-google-glass-20140216,0,654207.story?page=2#ixzz2tiBRirtQ
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Now a device to restore communication for brain-injured people

Now a device to restore communication for brain-injured people

als Assistive Technology brain computer interface Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) mnd

Here comes a fascinating device that allows people suffering with paralysis to control computers or a prosthetic arm using their thoughts alone. Researchers at SpeakYourMind Foundation, a nonprofit organisation in the US, with help from BrainGate lab at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, has developed this low-cost brain-computer interface to brain-injured patients.
‘We have also developed a prototype eye-tracking tool called ‘SYMeyes’ – consisting of a webcam – that allows brain stem stroke patients to answer yes or no questions by moving their eyes,’ informed Dan Bacher, founder and executive director of the Speak YourMind Foundation, in a press release.
The eye-tracker system costs about $30.  Comparable systems in the market cost about $10,000 to $15,000, Bacher said. Bacher has also developed a system that allowed people to spell words by controlling a computer cursor on a virtual keyboard – using signals from the BrainGate implant.  (Read: Oxygen therapy can reverse brain damage even years after stroke!)
The virtual keyboard also suggests word completions to speed up typing. Bacher, with a team of volunteers and students, develops low-cost, personalised eye-tracking and head-tracking technologies – using basic components available at most electronics stores, a laptop and custom software. (Read: High levels of oxygen in a pressurised atmosphere can treat brain damage – Israeli researchers)
‘We are helping restore communication to people who lack the ability due to stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brain injury or other problems,’ Bacher was quoted as saying.

East Haven ALS sufferer, veteran won’t stop fighting

East Haven ALS sufferer, veteran won’t stop fighting

(Mara Lavitt ó New Haven Register) Robert Giammatti and his wife, Cindy, use a letter board for communication.

By Evan Lips, New Haven Register

Posted: 02/16/14, 6:40 PM EST | Updated: 12 hrs ago

(Mara Lavitt ó New Haven Register) Bob Giammatti, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as or ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, is helped by wife Cindy and CNA Cindi Grazio of West Haven tend to him.

                           

EAST HAVEN >> Robert Giammatti doesn’t know where it came from, this disease that slowly robbed him of his ability to walk, talk, drink or eat.

He spends his days confined to a bed. The only way he can communicate with his wife, Cindy, is by blinking his eyes, where one means “Yes.”

Giammatti has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the scientific name for the affliction that cut down baseball legend Lou Gehrig when the New York Yankees first baseman was just a few weeks shy of his 38th birthday.

Giammatti is 68. There’s a framed photo of Gehrig that hangs in the couple’s bedroom.

Giammatti is also a veteran of the military. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has determined his condition is connected to his service, even though he never set foot in Vietnam.

“They (VA) never said what the connection is, but they did say it was connected,” Cindy Giammatti said Tuesday, during an interview in the family’s Farm Meadow Road home. “It’s almost as if they know something.”

A week earlier, Cindy Giammatti appeared before the Town Council to tell her husband’s story, to help convince members to pass an ordinance giving 100 percent disabled veterans like her husband a complete property tax exemption. There were times at the meeting when she paused to compose herself.

Council members voted unanimously to pass the ordinance, an option Connecticut cities and towns have under a new state statute. East Haven joins West Haven, Marlborough, Avon and East Hampton in enacting the ordinance, according to Town Attorney Joseph Zullo.

Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr., in a Jan. 30 memo, urged council members to pass it.

“I believe it is imperative that we honor those sacrifices and I believe that this ordinance, as allowed by state law, is the proper way to do so,” he said in the memo.

Cindy Giammatti left the meeting with a smile.

“It’s like she’s always winning these little battles,” said Cindi Grazio, a West Haven nurse who helps care for Giammatti.

Grazio, adjusting Giammatti’s ventilator, was referring to the time in October when Cindy Giammatti completed a mandatory ventilator training course in just two weeks.

“When he got the ventilator, we were at a hospital in New Britain,” Cindy Giammatti said. “I was warned, ‘You may never get your husband home.’

“I said, ‘First of all, you’ve never met me — he’s coming home.’”

First, she had to complete ventilator training. She was told the average trainee takes five months to finish the course, and even after that, many fail the test.

“The hospital told me that we set a record,” she said. “The couldn’t believe how fast we did it.”

For her, it’s a race against the clock. She does not know how much time she’ll have left with her husband.

“People ask me all the time about a timetable,” she said. “He may go three or four years or he may come down with cancer or pneumonia like anyone else.”

The Giammattis have been together 10 years. They fell in love following marriages that ended in divorce. Cindy Giammatti is 46. At the time, Giammatti was working as a custodian at Deer Run Elementary School, where Cindy’s children from her previous marriage went to school.

“The hard thing about this disease, and other people will say this, (is) we had a future planned,” she said.

From the bed behind her, Giammatti blinks once.

There’s the cabin in New Hampshire’s White Mountains that Giammatti built by hand. He was going to retire, and as soon as the couple’s children were up and out of the house, they were going to live up there.

“This cut that right down for both of us,” she said.

The hope right now, the one thing Cindy Giammatti said helps her husband look forward to another day, is that someday there will be a cure. But the rarity of ALS is also a hindrance.

“The other day on ‘Good Morning America’ everyone was wearing red for heart disease awareness,” she said. “Then in October everything is pink for breast cancer.

“There’s nothing for ALS.”
Behind her, Giammatti blinks once.

Cindy Giammatti said raising awareness is the biggest reason she and her husband allowed an interview at their home. There’s only one drug available that’s specifically aimed at slowing down the onset of ALS: Riluzole. It has provedto lengthen survival by several months, but does not reverse motor nerve damage.

Cindy Giammatti said her husband first noticed something was wrong after he backed a maintenance snowplow into a light post during winter 2010. His head jerked back, jostling his neck. Doctors discovered his left arm had become weak. Giammatti said they attributed the weakness to whiplash sustained during the accident, but physical therapy did nothing to improve his strength.

“At the same time I noticed his speech was becoming a little garbled, almost as if he had a little Novocaine in his mouth,” she recalled.

“I think he knew all along that there was something really wrong, that this was something serious, but he didn’t want to tell me, didn’t want to upset me.”

Behind her, Giammatti blinks once.

Cindy Giammatti almost began to cry when she was asked to remember some of the last words her husband said before ALS robbed him of his ability to speak.

“It’s funny you should ask that,” she said. “One of the hardest things I have trouble with is not hearing his voice.

“I cannot remember what his voice sounds like.”

But she knows he is listening.

When more than blinking is need to communicate, Cindy Giammatti pulls out a poster board outfitted with an alphabet grid. She’ll walk her husband through a series of yes or no questions about a specific letter.

“What do you think of your wife, Bob?” asks Grazio.

“I--L-O-V-E--H-E-R.”
An interaction that takes other couples a split-second occupies a few minutes for the Giammattis.

The breaking point for Cindy Giammatti, the moment the cruelty of her husband’s diagnosis finally set in, was in late 2011. She recalled a visit to a physical therapist in New Britain. Her husband was still walking and talking.

“But the therapist put a pegboard and a set of golf tees in front of him,” Giammatti said. “He had to pick up the tees and put them in the holes.

“When I saw him struggling to pick up the tee, and he couldn’t, it hit me so hard.”

He lost the use of his hands shortly thereafter, followed by the use of his left arm. Speech then slowly went away.

“But it was like when you have a baby that begins to speak at 2 or 3, and only a parent can understand,” Giammatti said.

He finally relented and agreed to be fed via a tube after a noticeable loss of weight. Giammatti said one of her husband’s favorite treats had been Dairy Queen’s Strawberry Blizzard.

Grazio laughed when she recalled Giammatti’s reluctance to go with a feeding tube.

“He’s Italian,” she said. “The man loves his food.”

About eight months ago, Giammatti all his motor skills. The VA, Cindy Giammatti said, has helped her family immensely. There were grants to renovate the house so her husband could receive care at home. The property tax exemption will certainly help, she added.

But she’s still wondering how her husband’s ordeal can be connected to his military service, when nobody will tell her the connection.

“They’re taking the responsibility for his ALS,” she said. “But what does it mean?”

Last spring the ALS Association released a report titled ALS in the Military: Unexpected Consequences of Military Service. The report outlines several studies, chief among them a Harvard University project conducted between 2005 and 2009, that determined all military veterans, “regardless of branch or era of service are nearly twice as likely to develop ALS.”

On Nov. 4, 2009, the VA officially updated its regulations to recognize a “presumption of service connection for ALS for any veteran who develops the disease at any time after separation from service.”

The organization is still lobbying Congress to fund research that will answer the question of why military veterans are more prone to the disease.

Meanwhile, the Giammattis are still waiting and praying a cure will arrive in time. Yet as they wait, coping with Giammatti’s affliction the best way they know how, their own love story is still being written.

Cindy Giammatti spends her nights sleeping in a twin bed a few feet away from her husband’s master bed. She will jerk awake at night if she hears her husband’s ventilator change pace, meaning he, too, is awake. He cannot call out to her for help, so Giammatti has used her sense of sound to determine when he needs help.

“It’s been like this for seven or eight months,” she said. “And although it’s tough, there’s no place I’d rather be than by his side.”

Behind her, Bob Giammatti blinks once.