This sounds like some wonderful technology in the works and is simple to use on top of that. Gosh, I am not disabled, but even I would like to have this technology as well! The fact that is is only taking 90 seconds to learn is fantastic too, so I hope this one makes it to market real soon. BD
Say "ahh" and the cursor zips toward the northeast corner of the computer screen. "Ooo" sends it shooting straight south. Want it to head southeast? Say "ohh." To make the cursor do a circle or figure 8, let vowel sounds bleed into one another, like eee into ahh into aww and so on. You can make it hurry or slow by regulating the volume of your voice. To open a link, make a soft clicking sound.
So goes the University of Washington's "Vocal Joystick" software, which uses sounds to help people with disabilities use their computers.
The Vocal Joystick requires only a microphone, a computer with a standard sound card and a user who can vocalize. The team behind the study, funded by the National Science Foundation, hopes to make a prototype available online this fall.
Researchers have tested the joystick with spinal cord injury patients at the UW Medical Center and just finished another round of testing with 10 participants with varying levels of disabilities.
"But I think they've created something intuitive here. We had some of our higher level of spinal cord patients test it, and one of them learned to use it in about 90 seconds."
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