Leveraging retained physical capabilities to support persons with severe motor impairments

Abstract

This paper deals with two novel applications of an alternative method of interacting with a computer which enables persons with very severe motor impairments to leverage retained capabilities in order to independently control certain parts of their daily lives. The input strategy is based on tiny intentional contractions of a single muscle of choice (requiring a minimum of physical contribution only) which are used as "selection marker" in the context of scanning. The first application turns the PC into a Universal Remote Control (URC), while the second one is a Text-To-Speech (TTS) module. A simple experiment requesting the speed of the scanning scheme shows that the theoretical concept really works and that it therefore has the potential of being of great help for its target population.