Axistive.com

Great feature launch of handheld computers allow users to mute gabs.

Robert — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:58:18 +0000

The latest assistive communication devices are here, and they work a bit like
your iPhone
Justin Birch lost his ability to speak in 2003 as the result of a brain
aneurysm, who turns 34 this week, is a polite resident of Cape Coral, Fla.,
who would never intentionally annoy anyone, but it is nice to have the same
speech options as those who can speak on their own. Birch (who can walk with
the aid of a cane) achieves this via an assistive communication device that
allows him to tap out messages on a touch screen using a stylus. After his
messages are composed, the portable pad uses special software to announce his
thoughts in a simulated tones that sound similar to Justin’s own
pre-aneurysmal voice.
Read the entire article at:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=assistive-communication

Links:
DynaVox Mayer-Johnson V system
http://www.dynavoxtech.com/success/stroke/details.aspx?id=74

A journey through early augmentative communication and computer access
http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/02/39/6/sup/vanderheiden.html

Digital Equipment’s DECtalk DTC01 voice synthesizer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DECtalk

Prentke Romich Co.
http://store.prentrom.com/cgi-bin/store/E14.html

Words+, Inc.
http://www.words-plus.com/website/products/syst/conversa.htm

Communication Technologies/Resources
http://www.childrenshospital.org/clinicalservices/Site2016/mainpageS2016P5.html

Cost free services for sightless people to steer net

Robert — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:57:52 +0000

As a graduate student at the University of Washington, Jeffrey Bigham created
WebAnywhere, a free screen reader that can be used with practically any Web
browser on any operating system–no special software required. Users start at
http://webanywhere.cs.washington.edu; from there, they can use keyboard
commands to navigate to any Web page. While other screen readers synthesize
speech from text locally, WebAnywhere fetches speech from a central server
and sends the audio to the user’s computer.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?TRID=766

Links:
Jeffrey P. Bigham
http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/jbigham/

Improving Access for Blind Web Users
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/events/colloquia/20090401-jeffreybigham.html

Helping the Blind Use the Web from Anywhere
http://span.state.gov/wwwfspjanfeb0959.pdf

———–

Jeff Bigham of the University of Washington demonstrates WebAnywhere, which
allows the visually impaired to use a Web browser on public terminals without
the need to install or configure special accessibility software.

Video:
http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=411

Detect residents activities with easy feelers

Robert — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:57:11 +0000

Walls can talk, and Shwetak Patel, an assistant professor of computer science
and electrical engineering, captures their stories: tales of how people move
through their homes and how they use electricity, gas, and water. Patel has
shown that each electrical appliance in a house produces a signature in the
building’s wiring; plugged into any outlet, a single sensor that picks up
electrical variations in the power lines can detect the signal made by every
device as it’s turned on or off. This monitoring ability could be
particularly useful for elder care, but there was previously no practical way
to achieve it, because it would have required numerous expensive sensors.
Last year, Patel did something similar with ventilation systems, designing a
sensor that detects subtle changes in air pressure when a person leaves or
enters a room. More recently, he’s shown that slight pressure changes in gas
lines and water pipes betray the use of specific appliances or fixtures, such
as a stove or faucet. Patel believes that providing people with information
about their patterns of resource consumption can help them reduce it. He has
cofounded a startup that will provide consumers with utility bills itemized
by appliance.
Source:
http://www.technologyreview.com/tr35/Profile.aspx?TRID=814

Link:
Shwetak Patel
http://abstract.cs.washington.edu/~shwetak/

Cover fight words: Mutilation medicines are available

Robert — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:56:35 +0000

Kara Lynn has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which has attacked the
muscles around her mouth and throat, removing her ability to speak. A couple
of years ago, she spent more than $8,000 to buy a computer, approved by
Medicare, that turns typed words into speech that her family, friends and
doctors can hear.

Under government insurance requirements, the maker of the PC, which ran
ordinary Microsoft Windows software, had to block any non-speech functions,
like sending e-mail or browsing the Web.

Dismayed by the PC’s limitations and clunky design, Ms. Lynn turned to a $300
iPhone 3G from Apple running $150 text-to-speech software. Ms. Lynn, who is
48 and lives in Poughkeepsie, NY, said it worked better and let her “wear her
voice” around her neck while snuggling with her 5-year-old son, Aiden, who
has Down syndrome.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/technology/15speech.html?_r=1&hpw

Links:
Proloquo2Go
http://www.proloquo2go.com/

Accessibility Solutions for iPhone
http://www.apple.com/accessibility/resources/iphone.html

iTunes link
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=308368164&mt=8

Proloquo 2.0.2
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/home_learning/proloquo.html

User-friendly pace from snow leopard is existing now

Robert — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:54:12 +0000

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) introduced a host of features that made using a Mac
easier for people with physical disabilities. Among its key improvements was
VoiceOver, a screen reader that narrated whatever was on the Mac’s display.
Leopard improved on those features, adding a more human-sounding computer
voice (Alex) and offering more ways to interact with the Mac (including
support for USB Braille displays and number-pad input). Snow Leopard
continues those efforts to make OS X more accessible.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/170935/snow_leopard_makes_strides_in_accessibility.html

Deaf will be able to read with improved Lip-Reaching training

Robert — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:53:03 +0000

Machine lip-reading technology could help lip readers improve their ability
to read others’ lips. A University of East Anglia team led by Sarah Hilder
contrasted the success rate of a machine lip-reading program with that of
human lip readers. Machine readers had a success rate of 80 percent, while
humans had a success rate of only 32 percent. Machines also could use an
abstract face shape to interpret lips, while humans needed a video of a real
person. Researchers gave volunteers with weak lip-reading skills a chance to
try a new training program that improved their ability to interpret
monosyllabic words in a few hours. The program, which is video-based, enabled
users to see moving lips and gestures as opposed to two-dimensional drawings.
“With just four hours of training, it helped them improve their lip-reading
skills markedly,” Hilder says. “We hope this research will represent a real
technological advance for the deaf community.” One possibility would be free
online video lessons, says Royal National Institute for Deaf People campaign
manager Agnes Hoctor.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2009/sept/homepagenews/lipreading

Links:
Sarah Hilder
s.hilder@uea.ac.uk

Royal National Institute for Deaf People
http://www.rnid.org.uk/

Agnes Hoctor
http://www.rnid.org.uk/howyoucanhelp/work_with_us/jobs/employee_profiles/agnes_hoctor/

Recent instantaneous launch by IBM and Chinese is online sign language analysis

Robert — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:51:39 +0000

IBM and the Chinese Deaf Association announced the launch of an online sign
language interpretation service in Taiwan, aimed to provide video and audio
instant messaging services to the deaf. The service, initially used to
support the organization of the 21st Summer Deaflympics held in Taipei City
from September 5 to 15, will benefit over 200,000 deaf and hearing impaired
people in Taiwan.
Read the entire article at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS19467+11-Sep-2009+PRN20090911

Links:
iSign iHear
http://www.isign-ihear.org.tw/

M-Taiwan Project
http://m-taiwan.niu.edu.tw/m_1.html

Chinese Deaf Association
http://www.deaf.org.tw/

A device catches the reflection for early autism revealing

Robert — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:50:29 +0000

A technology that records certain eye movements in complete darkness is
giving researchers at the University of Florida (UFL; Gainesville) unique
information about autism in children. The device records vestibulo-ocular
reflex (VOR) eye movement, and more specifically nystagmus, an involuntary
movement in which the eye moves rapidly in one direction and then slower in
the other.
Read the entire article at:
http://www.devicelink.com/mddi/archive/09/08/010.html

Links:
Keith D. White, PhD
http://www.psych.ufl.edu/~white/index_files/frame.htm

Hands free car kits to avoid road tragedies

Robert — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:07:06 +0000

Texting while driving is a growing danger. A recent study by Car and Driver
suggests that it’s more dangerous than drunk driving or driving under the
influence of marijuana. Also, the AAA says that up to 47% of teens text while
driving. Many states are now considering laws specifically banning texting
while driving, though the practice already may be subject to reckless and
careless driving laws. DriveSafe.ly aims to eliminate the potential for
violations and accidents by reading text messages and e-mails aloud,
automatically responding without users ever touching the mobile phone.

Read the entire article at:
http://mobiledevdesign.com/new_applications/speech-applications-texting-0918/

Links:
iSpeech
http://www.ispeech.org

DriveSafe.ly
http://www.drivesafe.ly/

Bringing speech synthesis and recognition to headsets and hand-free car kits
http://mobiledevdesign.com/hardware_news/bluecore5-multimedia-platform-csr-bluetooth-0424/

Innovative methods to regain optical senses

Robert — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:06:17 +0000

A pair of sunglasses wired to an electric “lollipop” helps the visually
impaired regain optical sensations via a different pathway

Neuroscientist Paul Bach-y-Rita hypothesized in the 1960s that “we see with
our brains not our eyes.” Now, a new device trades on that thinking and aims
to partially restore the experience of vision for the blind and visually
impaired by relying on the nerves on the tongue’s surface to send light
signals to the brain.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=device-lets-blind-see-with-tongues

Links:
Paul Bach-y-Rita
http://www.salus.edu/nclvi/honoring/bach_y_rita.htm

Wicab, Inc.
http://vision.wicab.com/index.php

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s UPMC Eye Center
http://www.upmc.com/Services/ophthalmology/Pages/default.aspx

BrainPort Vision Technology
http://vision.wicab.com/technology/

BrainPort lets you see with your tongue, might actually make it to market
http://www.engadget.com/tag/Brainport/