Thumb Typing

From: Technology Review - 07/2002

As computers blend into our environment and even our clothing, entering data
into them gets tricky. Carsten Mehring, a mechanical engineer at the
University of California, Irvine, has come up with a device that turns your
hands into a qwerty-style keyboard. Mehring's device uses six conductive
contacts on each thumb-three on the front and three on the back-to represent
a keyboard's three lettered rows. Contacts on the tips of the remaining eight
fingers represent its columns. Touching the right index finger to the middle
contact on the front of the right thumb, for instance, generates a j. The top
contact on the thumb yields a u, while the middle contact on the back of the
thumb would produce an h. Mehring says the similarity to typing makes his
input device easier to master than others that require an entirely different
set of motions. He has applied for a patent and hopes to market a product by
year-end.

Source:
http://www.technologyreview.com/article/12893/page8/

Links:
Carsten Mehring
http://www.eng.uci.edu/~cmehring/index.html

Kitty Project
http://gram.eng.uci.edu/~cmehring/KITTY/about-kitty.html

Upcoming AAC Webinars

Patricia Ourand brings you two new webinars, both focusing on aspects surrounding Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC).

Howdy Friend, We are thrilled to present Patricia Ourand, MS, CCC-SLP, this week as she brings two brand-new webinar continuing education opportunities, each focusing on aspects surrounding Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Pat is a speech/language pathologist who operates a private practice and consulting business, known as Associated Speech & Language Services, Inc., in the Baltimore/Washington area. She holds a Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology from Loyola College, as well as a Master’s degree in Technology for Rehabilitation & Education from the Johns Hopkins University. Please help us welcome Pat during our month long celebration of Better Hearing & Speech Month! Featured Upcoming Live Webinars View the Full Webinar Schedule The "C" in AAC - Communication This live online seminar presented by Patricia Ourand, MS, CCC-SLP, focuses on the “Communication” in Augmentative and Alternative Communication. The course will begin by exploring the basic principles of ASHA’s definition of the AAC and identifying communication partners, behaviors and critical topics for partner training. Pat will then delve deeper into the subject and instruct therapists on communicative competence and tools that can be used for overcoming communication barriers in emergency situations. Learn More > Friday, May 18th 4pm - 7pm EST (3 Contact Hours) Intended Audience: SLPs, OTs Documentation & Funding Issues Concerning Augmentative and Alternative Communication This live online seminar presented by Patricia Ourand, MS, CCC-SLP, focuses on funding and documentation challenges related to AAC. Pat instructs therapists how to recognize issues, providers, documentation specifics and basic demographics. Topics that are also covered include the process for acquiring AAC services, methods for communicating with staff of insurance programs and ways to differentiate between Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and the ADA of 1990. Learn More > Saturday, May 19th 9am - 1pm EST (4 Contact Hours) Intended Audience: SLPs, OTs Can't make it this week? Join us next week for: Perfecting Bedside Pharyngeal Swallow Assessment Ann Kulichik, MS, CCC-SLP, BRS-S, presents this live webinar, which aims to increase the specificity of your clinical observations and your confidence with assessment techniques requiring no special materials. The dysphagia clinician has some basic tools to draw from when making clinical decisions, but perhaps the most neglected ones are right at his/her fingertips. Palpation can unravel mysteries of the swallow that have previously been attributed only to instrumental testing. In this course, we will cover what the literature has to say about structures and motions that can be perceived bedside, the most effective hand placement, pressure, inferring swallow status, tracking changes, goals that arise naturally from this assessment, and a couple of ways to influence swallow performance. Bring your hands, your hyoids and your thyroids! Learn More > Saturday, May 26th 9am - 12pm EST (3 Contact Hours) Intended Audience: SLPs View the Full Webinar Schedule