LUCY Offers Head Control with Laser Pointing

Janine Romijn suffered from cerebral palsy since birth and has been using LUCY since 1980. LUCY is an alternative keyboard that allows users to operate a computer, printer or communications device via a laser pointer.

Using her hands is difficult for Janine so she uses her head as much as possible to communicate. LUCY enabled her to get several academic degrees and also land a technical drafting job. She set up the website Headlight to inform people with physical impairments as well as their therapists that there is an easy way to operate a computer, even if you cannot use your hands very well.
 
“Working with LUCY is comfortable, easy and can be very fast,” says Janine. “Even with a head as out of balance as mine I can type 60 keystrokes per minute. It is not necessary to operate LUCY in a sitting position; it can be done lying down just as well.”
 
LUCY is not only able to replace a keyboard, but macros can be built in as well. Macro’s can contain words or other keystrokes frequently used (e.g. name and address). Eleven sets of 86 macros each can be stored in LUCY. Of each set, 11 are directly callable with one key and 75 are two-step macros, in which case the ‘Mac’ key must be activated first. One macro can contain 255 letters and/or other keystrokes. It is possible to store all these macros, up to 946, into the computer. Should a breakdown occur, it is easy to reload your macros into LUCY in mere seconds and continue working. A mouse simulator is a standard LUCY accessory. It is handy when using drawing programs on the computer and when navigating the Internet.
 
For people who have reasonable to good head balance, the laser pointer is the quickest way to operate the LUCY but a mouse, trackball, joystick or other device can be used. Since users are able to directly select the characters, this is much quicker than scanning. With a laser pointer that is light-weight, small and easily attached onto a headband or glasses, the unit allows people with a good head balance to reach a typing speed of 120 keystrokes per minute.
 
Source: Headlight

Translation: Vanessa Flier