April 23, 2009
Brain-Computer Interface Used For Twitter Post
In early April, doctoral student Adam Wilson posted a "tweet" on the social networking Web site Twitter, using an experimental system that allows use of EEG as input to a standard computer. A system similar to this might be used in the future by people with severe disabilities, enabling them to use a computer for communication and social interaction. Potential beneficiaries include people with locked-in syndrome, ALS, brain-stem stroke, or high spinal cord injury.
The brain-computer interface employs an electrode-studded cap wired to the computer. The electrodes detect electrical signals in the brain and translate them into physical actions, such as a cursor motion on a computer screen. "We started thinking that moving a cursor on a screen is a good scientific exercise," says UW-Madison Assistant Professor Justin Williams, Wilson's advisor and a Trace Center affiliate. "But when we talk to people who have locked-in syndrome or a spinal cord injury, their No. 1 concern is communication." He hopes the Twitter application is the nudge researchers need to refine development of this technology.
Wilson and other members of the team have been housed and supported by the Trace Center, with partial funding of an earlier study provided by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research as part of the RERC on Universal Interface and Information Technology Access.
For more information on this work, including a video of Wilson using the brain-computer interface to post to Twitter, visit the Neural Interface Technology Research and Optimization (NITRO) Lab.
Posted at 2:37 PM on April 23, 2009.
April 1, 2009
Trace Center Featured on Local News
Channel 3 News in Madison, Wisconsin, featured the Trace Center in an in-depth report on March 31, 2009. View the story or read the transcript on the Channel 3 website.The story shows UW student Andrew Hasley demonstrating his use of the Automated Postal Center, which is accessible for people who are blind or have other disabilities. The EZ Access features developed at the Trace Center were implemented in this system, which is available in post offices across the country.
Carl DuRocher is also featured in the story, demonstrating StickyKeys and MouseKeys, two of the original accessibility features built in to Windows, Mac OS, and other computer operating systems. These and seven other accessibility features were developed at the Trace Center in the 1980's.
At the end of the story Center Director Gregg Vanderheiden characterizes Trace's present focus on Internet accessibility:
So much can be done on the Web and for people who have disabilities, or people who are older. It could be a very powerful way for them to get information, to communicate with others, connect with others. We need to figure out not only how to make the Web pages accessible but make sure they get tools.
Posted at 10:18 AM on April 1, 2009.