Adaptive Technology

Lynnette Smith

What is it?
Adaptive technology is any device or software, purchased off the shelf or altered, that is used to enhance the users performance.

Switches
Used for those with mobility problems Composed of one or more buttons or a sensory plate Easier to use than keyboard or joystick These can also be used as developmental aids

Optical Character Recognition

Converts an image into regular text Images are made of pixels and are not editable Once a file has gone through OCR it can be passed on to any word processing program Can work with screen readers and refreshable Braille displays

Neural Interface Devices

3 Different Forms Muscle Movement (EMG) Eye Movement (EOG) Brain Waves (EEG)

Neural Interface: Muscle Movement

Sensor is implanted into the skin of the user Through muscle contractions and relaxations the muscle produces electrical impulses The impulses are picked up by the sensor and transmitted to the computer

Neural Interface: Eye Movement

Sensors are implanted into the facial tissue of the user The movement of the eye produces electrical current The current is picked up by the sensors and is transmitted to the computer

Neural Interface: Brain Waves

Senor is implanted into the users skull Electrical impulses are created through the users mood and mental state In essence the user can think of something and the compute will pick up the signal through the sensors in the users skull

Haptic Devices
Use a combination of tactile and kinesthetic sensing Tactile is the use of the sense of touch Kinesthetic sensing is the placement of an object in the environment The user will feel tension and be able to interpret the position of objects

Braille
Refreshable Braille displays are used to interpret text sent to the monitor These will display one line of text at a time using the 8-dot Braille code, as opposed to the 6-dot Braille code Braille Embossers are basically printers A translation program is needed if the text is in written standard text

Speech Recognition
Used based on the individual users speech patterns The user will need to establish a base file Which will be built upon each time the software is used You need to be sure that the software, microphones, sound cards, memory, and the processor can all support each other

Adaptable Hardware
Keyboards can be altered in structure and/or key placement Onscreen keyboard can be permanently displayed on the montor Trackball is basically an inverted mouse The ball is located on the top, standard right and left buttons, may have additional buttons or switches