Open access to the new platform will be able to serve people who
suffer from motor neurological diseases and quadriplegia.
Intel has created a communications platform to replace the system used decades ago by Professor Stephen Hawking, improving his ability to communicate with the world. The customizable platform will be available to technology and research communities in January 2015.
By studying Hawking's acute needs and his very specific relationship to the machine, Intel provided a bespoke solution – called ACAT (Assistive Context Aware Toolkit) – that results in improved communication between Hawking and the world. It has the potential to become the backbone of a modern, customizable system that other researchers and technologists can use to benefit those with motor neurological disorders (MND) and quadriplegia.
Hawking has motor neurological disorders (MND) related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a condition that has progressed over the years. He is almost entirely paralyzed and communicates through technology.
“Medicine has not been able to cure me, so I depend on technology to help me communicate and live. Intel has supported me for over 20 years, allowing me to do what I love every day. The development of this system has the potential to improve the lives of people with disabilities around the world and is leading the way in terms of human interaction and the ability to overcome barriers that stand in the way of communication,” said Hawking.
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Intel Labs has been working with Hawking for three years to replace their current communications system with modern technology. Hawking was instrumental in the design process, providing constant feedback to help improve the system with daily interaction.
“Professor Hawking has uniquely used technology to communicate with the world for decades, but his old system could be improved by using modern apps and current websites with a computer without a keyboard or mouse, to increase a person's independence. with disabilities,” said Wen-Hann Wang, vice president of Intel and director of Intel Labs.
Like the parts of an engine that interact seamlessly to make a car work, the software user interface created by Intel makes it possible for new and existing technologies to work efficiently with each other. The result: Hawking's typing speed is twice as fast, and there is a 10-fold improvement in common tasks, with more ease, accuracy and speed in browsing, editing, managing and browsing the Web, emails and documents; or open, save and edit a new document and switch between tasks.
The current chin sensor is detected by an infrared switch installed in the glasses to help you choose a character on the computer. Software integration from a British language technology company called SwiftKey* has greatly improved the system's ability to learn from Hawking and predict his next characters and words so he has to type less than 20% of all characters.
This information is sent to your current speech synthesizer so that it can communicate with others through your notebook. For example, to perform a web search, Hawking previously had arduous routes, needing to exit his communication window, navigate with the mouse to open the browser, navigate with the mouse again to the search bar, and finally enter the text for the search. search. The new system automates all these steps for a faster and more assertive process.
Open and customizable software
Tetraplegia and MND affect more than 3 million people worldwide. MND affects voluntary muscle activities such as speech, locomotion and food intake. Progressive in nature, it causes increasing disability and eventual death.
The new toolkit created by Intel can be customized and changed to suit different users. The system created by Intel is an innovative software interface for researchers and technologists to create custom solutions enabled by touch, eye blinks, eyebrow flicks and other user input for communication.
With the platform being accessible and free, Intel and Hawking want the technology and research communities – such as those focused on sensors, predictive text, context recognition and user interface design – to take advantage of this and bring new and improved solutions to the Marketplace.
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