Reply-To: "* WEB http://www.rit.edu/~easiackrange/mike_cormier/1mike_cormier.html=20" 
To: EASI@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
Subject: "Adaptive devices open up technology to the disabled"

Adaptive devices open up technology to the disabled
San Jose Mercury News
Sunday, January 25, 1998
by Leslie J. Nicholson
Knight Ridder News Service


Michael Fiore, a pioneer in rehabilitation engineering, suited tip for
battle.

The familiar beeps of Pong, the classic computer table-tennis game, started
to sound as he moved the paddle up and down, making contact with the ball.

A pretty routine scene, really, if you ignore the fact Fiore wasn't using his
hands to control the game. His only equipment was a headband equipped with
biosensors; his only weapon, the power of his mind.

He was using Cyberlink, a bio-feedback device from Cyberlink Mind Systems
Inc. which uses brain-wave patterns to control the functions of a
Windows-based computer. It also can be configured to react to eye or facial
movements.

Although the system was developed as a potential interface for video games,
Fiore said, the hope is to combine it with other types of technology to help
people with severe disabilities use computers.

Already, the same technology that lets Fiore play Pong with his brain waves
can be used to manipulate other kinds of graphic objects on a computer
screen.

Such a system could be used instead of a mouse to move a pointer across a
screen. "You can go up, down, left, right," Fiore said. "You can position it
anywhere on the screen, and using one of those on-screen keyboards, you now
have access to typing.

"Cool, huh?"

The brain-wave device is part of the broad field of assistive technology. For
computers, this field encompasses things as mundane as a magnifying screen
that fits over a monitor and as futuristic as software that lets people
"type" by staring at a word on a list. And people with disabilities are not
the only ones taking advantage of these advances.

If I had known about this stuff prior to my injury, I would have used it
(anyway), because this is so cool said Anthony Williams, a quadriplegic who
uses a voice-recognition program and other assistive hardware and software to
operate his computer.

Fiore demonstrated the equipment at his King of Prussia, PA company, the
Sierra Group. The company researches and evaluates assistive technologies,
recommends which products would suit clients' needs then provides training in
how to use them.

Fiore is chief financial officer of the company. His wife, Janet D. Fiore, is
president and chief executive.

Voice-recognition programs, which allow people to dictate text into
computers, are among the most common forms of assistive technology.

William uses Kurzweil Voice for Windows, by Kurzweil Applied Intelligence
Inc.

Such programs are available for only a few hundred dollars at most, compared
with thousands of dollars a few years ago, and are being marketed to the
general public as conveniences.

The Sierra Group's small office is filled with alternative input devices for
computers - the Magic Wand, for example, a product from In Touch Systems that
lets people with mobility problems type a word into a computer with a slight
touch of a stylus onto a circuit board. Other alternative input methods
include on-screen keyboards, such as Clicker Plus by Don Johnston Inc., which
allows users to pick words from a menu and click on them with a mouse or
mouse alternative, such as a voice command or an eye-tracking system.

One of the most interesting input devices on the market is what Fiore calls
the "McDonald's keyboard."  This is the same device used by fast-food workers
to ring in orders. Beneath the surface are programmable buttons that can
serve a higher purpose than providing fries to a hungry public. they can give
a disabled person a new way to function in his or her career.

The Fiores used just such a device to give an architect who has muscular
dystrophy access to software for computer-assisted design (CAD). Because he
cannot extend his forearm, the architect is unable to use the mouse, keyboard
and large digitizer board as normally required.

"We fit all the AutoCAD commands, of which there are gobs, and the keyboard
and mouse controls on this 8.5 by 11 area," Fiore said. "He had access to the
entire CAD program and was able to do what everybody else was doing."

The touchpad, Keyport KBD by Polytel Computer Products Corp.,  comes with 176
buttons, each of which can be programmed for up to three functions. Some
models have 300 buttons and some have braille surfaces.

The types of assistive technologies available vary as widely as the people
who use them. For some people with impaired vision, a larger monitor, or
hardware or software that magnifies text may be appropriate. The blind can
use speech synthesizers or "refreshable braille displays," which produce a
braille duplicate of whatever line of text is on the screen, said Ryan
Kittle, a consultant for the Job Accommodation Network in Morgantown, WV, a
service of the President's Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities.

For some people, multiple solutions are needed.

In addition to limiting Ashley Cox's mobility, cerebral palsy has left her
with mild dexterity problems. She also has trouble with visual perception.
Handwriting has also always been difficult.

Throughout her school years, Cox relied on aides to take notes and type
papers. High school teachers arranged for her to get a laptop for more
independence, but it only made things worse, at least in terms of her morale.


"For 10 months, I tried to type, and with my (perception) problem and with my
dexterity problem, it was difficult. I was typing about seven words a minute.
I was getting frustrated. People weren't knowing why I wasn't learning to
type faster," recalled Cox, 21, now a sophomore at West Chester University on
Pennsylvania.

After years of trying, she got what she needed, voice-recognition software.
Now, she's thrilled to report a dictation speed of 42 words a minute.

Cox used IBM VoiceType, and usually that's enough. But when occasional eye
spasms prevent her from reading the text on the monitor, she can import the
information into a talking word-processing program called Write:OutLoud, by
Don Johnston, that reads the text back to her.

Some people may not realize they already have accessibility features on their
computers. Macs and Windows 95 PCs offer an option called StickyKeys that
allows a person to hit keys one at a time that normally have to be pressed
simultaneously.

Another feature, called SlowKeys on the Macintosh and Filterkeys in Windows
95, is designed for people who hit keys unintentionally. It can ignore brief
key strokes or slow the rate at which  a key repeats if pressed down too
long.

Mac and Windows 95 also allow users to change the numeric keypad into a
mouse, flash a visual signal when the machine beeps a warning and adjust
screen images for greater readability.

The Fiores point out that many technologies that have become everyday
conveniences were originally designed to aid people with disabilities,
including touch screens and automatic door openers in supermarkets.

"Show me a person pushing a stroller down the street who's not thankful for a
curb cut, who doesn't use the ramp when going up," said Fiore.

"This is normalization. The trend is not going to be adaptive technology.
Five years from now, there will never, ever be an adaptive-technology article
written, because there will not be such a field any more."

"It will just be 'technology.'"

Sources of Aid

These are some sources for assistive technology. For general information on
computer and Internet accessibility. contact:

Trace Research & Development Center
University of Wisconsin, Madison
http://trace.wisc.eduasiackrange/mike_cormier/1mike_cormier.html=20
608/262-6966

The Sierra Group Inc.
King of Prussia, PA
610/992-0288

Alliance for Technology Access
San Rafael, CA
http://www.ataccess.orgiackrange/mike_cormier/1mike_cormier.html=20
415/455-4575

Apple Disability Solutions Group
Cupertino, CA
http://www.apple.com/disability/message.htmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
800/600-7808

Broderbund Software Inc.
Novato, CA
http://www.broderbund.combility/message.htmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
415/382-4400

Cyberlink Mind Systems Inc.
Yellow Springs, OH
http://www.brainfingers.comlity/message.htmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
safes@brainfingers.com

Dragon Systems Inc.
Newtown, MA
http://www.dragonsys.comcomlity/message.htmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
617/965-5200

IBM
White Plains, NY
http://www.software.ibm.com/is/voicetypehtmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
800/426-4968

In Touch Systems
Spring Valley, NY
http://www.magicwandkeyboard.comoicetypehtmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
800/332-6244

Job Accommodation Network
Morgantown, WV
http://www.jan.wvu.edu/english/homeus.htmtmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
800/526-7234

Don Johnston Inc.
Wauconda, IL
http://www.donjohnston.comlish/homeus.htmtmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
800/999-4660

Kurzweil Applied Intelligence Inc.
Waltham, MA
http://www.lhs.com/Kurzweilish/homeus.htmtmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
800/380-1234

Microsoft Accessibility and Disabilities Group
Redmond, WA
http://www.microsoft.com/enablehomeus.htmtmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
800/426-9400

Polytel Computer Products Corp.
Sunnyvale, CA
http://www.danish.com/polytellehomeus.htmtmlr/1mike_cormier.html=20
800/245-6655

Picture caption

Anthony Williams uses a voice-recognition system and other assistive hardware
and software to run his computer.

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End of Document




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