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A COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED
Phone: (817) 387-9517
THE TOPIC OF THIS PROPOSAL IS THE DESIGN OF AN ENVIRONMENTALCONTROL SYSTEM FOR THE MORE THAN TWO MILLION INDIVIDUALS IN THE UNITED STATES WHOSE PHYSICAL AND/OR MENTAL IMPAIRMENTS ARE SO SEVERE THAT THEY ARE UNABLE TO FUNCTION IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT IN A NORMAL AND EFFECTIVE MANNER. A TWO-YEAR COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH EFFORT BETWEEN THE BIOENGINEERING PROGRAM AT THE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR RETARDED CITIZENS (ARC) AND SCOTT INSTRUMENTS HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT A WOMAN WITH PROFOUND MENTAL RETARDATION, SEVERE PHYSICAL HANDICAPS, AND ALMOST COMPLETELY UNINTELLIGIBLE VOCALIZATIONS COULD LEARN TO VOICE-ACTIVATE A COMPUTER FOR THE PURPOSES OF CONTROLLING VARIOUS ELECTRICAL DEVICES IN HER ENVIRONMENT. IT WAS CONCLUDED FROM THE STUDY THAT SPEECH RECOGNITION AND ACTIVATION OF A COMPUTER BY A PERSON WITH SEVERE MULTIHANDICAPS IS AN APPROPRIATE USE OF TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN BE A POSITIVE INTERVENTION FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF LIFE. ALTHOUGH HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL, THIS INITIAL RESEARCH EFFORT UNCOVERED A NUMBER OF PROBLEMS WITH THE SYSTEM. THE CURRENTPROPOSAL ADDRESSES THESE PROBLEMS THROUGH THE USE OF CURRENTSTATE-OF-THE-ART SPEECH-RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY, AN OBJECT-ORIENTED USER INTERFACE FOR SYSTEM SETUP, AND AN AUTOMATED TRAINING PROCEDURE FOR THE USER.
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *