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There are certain everyday technologies that I take for granted. Like the computer mouse.
For some people with motor impairments, a computer mouse can be impossible to use. Instead, they may use tongue joysticks, eye tracking devices, or brain-computer interfaces to control a mouse pointer on their computer screens. Many of these alternatives can be pretty clumsy to use.
Enter Jeff Bilmes and the vocal joystick. It’s a piece of software that lets you control a mouse pointing by making continuous vowel sounds into your computer’s microphone. Check out this video:
Nora interviewed Jeff about the vocal joystick, and it will air on the October 24 & 27 episode of Spark. You can also click above to listen to the full interview, or download the mp3.
My friend Dr. Dmirty Gorodnichy has invented Nouse™ (Nose as Mouse) perceptual vision technology. He is quite approachable and is really an interesting guy. Check him and his work out at the website I have included.
David
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