ADAPTATION OF TONGUE TOUCH KEYPAD AND SMARTLINK SYSTEM TO EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS

THE PROPOSED PROJECT INVOLVES TEH ADAPTATION OF A NEWLY DEVELOPED HARDWARE DEVICE CALLED THE TONGUETOUCH KEYPAD (TTK) AND SMARTLINK SYSTEM (CONTROLLER) TO EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS, AND TEH DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO OPTIMIZE ITS USEFULLNESS WITHIN THESE APPLICATIONS, FOR THE PURPOSES OF IMPROVING PARTICIPATION ININSTRUCTION OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES THAT RESTRICT THEIR ATTENDANCE IN CAMPUS CLASSROOMS. THE TTK IS A HANDS-FREE INPUT DEVICE CONSISTING OF AN INTRAORAL DENTAL RETAINER MODIFIED TO INCLUDE A NINE-KEY MEMBRANE KEYPAD, DIGITAL ENCODER, AND LOW-POWER RADIO TRANSMITTER WHICH TRANSMITS ENCODED KEYSTROKES TO A RECEIVERLOCATED NEAR THE USER'S HEAD. THE KEYSTROKES, ONCE DECODED BY THE CONTROLLER, ARE TRANSLATED INTO TEXT OR MOUSE MOVEMENT ON A COMPUTER SCREEN, OR A CONTROL COMMAND SENT TO AN ARRAY OF EQUIPMENT AND APPLIANCES SUCH AS A VCR, TELEVISION, TELEPHONE, PAGE TURNER AND AN APPLE MACINTOSH COMPUTER. COUPLED WITH MEDIA EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS, DESIGNEDFOR USE IN THE HOME, HOSPITAL AND RURAL OR SATELLITE SETTINGS, THE FIRM'S TECHNOLOGY APPEARS TO HAVE SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVING THE EDUCATION OF DISABLED CHILDREN. A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT WILL HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT THE FIRM'S TECHNOLOGY HAS SIGNIFICANT APPLICATIONS IN THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN THROUGH AGE 21 WITH MOBILITY DISABILITIES THAT RESTRICT THEIR ATTENDANCE IN TYPICAL CLASSROOM SETTINGS. INADDITION IT IS HOPED THAT THE STUDY'S CONCLUSIONS WILL SHOW THAT THE FIRM'S TECHNOLOGY HAS EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS FOR DISABLED CHILDREN IN THE CLASSROOM SETTING AS WELL. IN PARTICULAR, A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT WILL HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT: 1) THE TTK AND CONTROLLER ALLOWS CONTROL OVER EDUCATIONAL EQUIPMENT SUCH AS TV, VCR, TAPE RECORDER, AND COMPUTER, AND IS SUPERIOR TO OTHER PRODUCTS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE COMMERCIALLY; 2) THE TEXT ENTRY RATE OF THE TTK IS SUPERIOR TO OTHER COMPUTER ACCESS INPUT DEVICES WHICH ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO THE DISABLED, AND IS SUFFICIENTLY HIGH TO AVOID USER FRUSTRATION, THERBY IMPROVING THEIR ABILITY AND DESIRE TO PARTICIPATE IN INSTRUCTION AND THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS; 3) THE TTK, BEING ESSENTIALLY INVISIBLE WHEN WORN, REDUCES THE USER'S SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS, THEREBY IMPROVING THEIR ABILITY AND DESIRE TO PARTICIPATE IN INSTRUCTION AND THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS. ONCE THE ABOVE MENTIONED ADVANTAGES OF THE FIRM'S PRODUCT HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED, THE FIRM WILL BE IN A POSITION TO MARKET ITS PRODUCT TO THE DISABLED COMMUNITY FOR EDUCATIONALAPPLICATIONS, ESPECIALLY TO DISABLED CHILDREN WHO HAVE THE CAPACITY AND DESIRE TO LEARN.