From: IEEE Computer - January
2014 - page 16
Personal computers aid the handicapped
From: IEEE Computer - January
1982
By: Ware Myers - Computer staff
"The personal computer provides a new kind of
leverage for bringing aid to the handicapped," declared Paul L. Hazan,
director of the First National Search for Applications of Personal Computing to
Aid the Handicapped. The search was conducted by the Applied Physics Laboratory
of the Johns Hopkins University with funding provided by the National Science
Foundation and Radio Shack, a division of Tandy Corporation. The Computer
Society was a program associate of the effort.
"Over the years a great deal of worthy research has
gone on," Hazan continued. Unfortunately the end result of much of the
earlier research in the field was costly special-purpose equipment that
sometimes ran as much as
$70,000 to $100,000 per individual helped. Consequently,
it was difficult to find funds to get the products into the marketplace.
Moreover, continued maintenance of special-purpose equipment was difficult and
expensive. The final payoff - the number of handicapped helped - was therefore
limited.
Personal computer leverage. The advent of mass marketed
and reasonably priced computers brings with it the potential for change in the
existing situation, Hazan pointed out. He mentioned that although it has long
been recognized that computers extend an individual's mental reach, in the case
of the handicapped (with restricted physical capabilities), the possibility
also exists to extend the physical reach of this group of users.
If the personal computer can be brought to bear on this
problem, there are a number of built-in advantages. First, it is now low enough
in cost for the handicapped themselves, or their families and friends, to
afford; alternatively, in the workplace an employer can finance it for a
potential employee. This makes a large, centrally financed support program
unnecessary.
Secondly, the infrastructure for the application of personal
computers already exists. There is a nationwide - even worldwide - network of
dealers, maintenance, and training, and arrangements for the distribution of
programs are growing.
Finally, personal computers to aid the handicapped
constitute a significant business opportunity, both for the makers and
marketers of personal computers and for those who construct and sell
peripherals and input/output devices.
Given 20 million handicapped in the United States (a
conservative estimate), Hazan calculates that if only two percent of them
acquire a personal computer, they would create a potential market of 400,000
buyers - a figure in the same ball park as the total number of personal
computers sold to date.
Assuming that the average price for the units is $2000,
including peripherals, input/output devices, and programs, the actual dollar
value of this market is $800,000,000. "Enough for industry to pay
attention," Hazan noted. And the two percent market is just a guess. No
doubt it will ultimately be much more. The point is that while the personal
computer may be just a hobby for the able-bodied, with the proper applications
it can become a necessity for people with a variety of disabilities.
The search for applications. The First National Search,
announced in November 1980, was an effort to bring grassroots initiatives to
bear on the task of finding a variety of methods to apply the personal computer
to the needs of the handicapped. It was highlighted by a national competition
for ideas, devices, methods, and computer programs to help handicapped people
overcome difficulties in learning, working, and successfully adapting to home
and community settings.
In the spring, orientation workshops were held at major
rehabilitation centers throughout the United States to bring together potential
"inventors,"
handicapped people, and professionals in the educational,
technical, and rehabilitation fields. Over 900 entries were received by the
June 30, 1981 deadline.
In August regional exhibits were held in ten cities -
Boston, New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, Denver,
San Francisco, and Seattle. Awards were made to over 100 regional winners. From
the pool of regional winners a national panel of judges selected 30 entrants to
exhibit their work in Washington, DC. Of these, 28 made it to the Great Hall of
the National Academy of Sciences on October 31 and November 1, attracting
substantial numbers of the handicapped and those who work with them, as well as
three or four television news crews. One of the reporters, himself blind,
represented National Public Radio.
The next day the winners were honored at a banquet in the
Mayflower Hotel.
This banquet was also attended by government and industry
representatives with an interest in the subject. At the dinner the three
top-place winners and seven honorable mention recipients were named (see photos
and box).
During the following two days the 28 winners explained
their developments at a workshop held at the Applied Physics Laboratory, near
Washington.
Proceedings of this conference containing almost 100
papers - all the regional and national winners - are available from the
Computer Society.
What next? The Applied Physics Laboratory has a National
Science Foundation grant to study the feasibility of setting up a data base to
hold application programs for the handicapped. The search turned up a number of
excellent programs and some means of making them available to handicapped users
is needed. If the idea is feasible and funding becomes available, a potential
user could dial up the data base, select programs of interest from a menu, view
a demonstration of the program he selects, and ultimately download it into his
own equipment.
The First National Search is now history and the word
first implies a second.
There seems to be general agreement that the making of
inventions is too time-consuming for an annual search to be practical. The
receipt of inquiries from 19 countries also suggests that something more than
"national" is needed. Hazan expects another search to follow, but
there is much work to be done and funds to be raised before it can be launched.
Photo Caption:
Lewis F. Kornfeld (left), retired president of Radio
Shack, presents the first prize of $10,000 to Harry Levitt of the City
University of New York for his Portable Telecommunicator for the Deaf. Levitt
programmed a TRS 80 pocket computer to send and receive messages over the telephone
via a TRS interface, enabling the deaf to commuhicate with each other or with
their normal-hearing friends.
The other award winners were
Second Prize ($3000): Mark Friedman, Mark Dzmura, Gary
Kiliany, and Drew Anderson - Eye Tracker
Third Prize ($1500): Robin L. Hight - Lip Reader Trainer
Honorable Mention Awards ($500):
Joseph T. Cohn - Augmentative Communication Devices Randy
W. Dipner - Micro-Braille System Sandra J. Jackson - Programs for Learning
Disabled David L. Jaffe - Ultrasonic Head Control for Wheelchair Raymond
Kurzweil - Reading Machine for Blind Paul F. Schwejda - Firmware Card and
Training Disk Robert E. Stepp III - Braille Word Processor
(IEEE membership required)
Carl Moore, a former helicopter mechanic, was diagnosed with ALS 20 years ago. He has had unusual longevity for someone with ALS but expects someday to rely on his wheelchair and speech-generating device.
