A COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED

THE TOPIC OF THIS PROPOSAL IS THE DESIGN OF AN ENVIRONMENTALCONTROL SYSTEM FOR THE MORE THAN TWO MILLION INDIVIDUALS IN THE UNITED STATES WHOSE PHYSICAL AND/OR MENTAL IMPAIRMENTS ARE SO SEVERE THAT THEY ARE UNABLE TO FUNCTION IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT IN A NORMAL AND EFFECTIVE MANNER. A TWO-YEAR COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH EFFORT BETWEEN THE BIOENGINEERING PROGRAM AT THE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR RETARDED CITIZENS (ARC) AND SCOTT INSTRUMENTS HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT A WOMAN WITH PROFOUND MENTAL RETARDATION, SEVERE PHYSICAL HANDICAPS, AND ALMOST COMPLETELY UNINTELLIGIBLE VOCALIZATIONS COULD LEARN TO VOICE-ACTIVATE A COMPUTER FOR THE PURPOSES OF CONTROLLING VARIOUS ELECTRICAL DEVICES IN HER ENVIRONMENT. IT WAS CONCLUDED FROM THE STUDY THAT SPEECH RECOGNITION AND ACTIVATION OF A COMPUTER BY A PERSON WITH SEVERE MULTIHANDICAPS IS AN APPROPRIATE USE OF TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN BE A POSITIVE INTERVENTION FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF LIFE. ALTHOUGH HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL, THIS INITIAL RESEARCH EFFORT UNCOVERED A NUMBER OF PROBLEMS WITH THE SYSTEM. THE CURRENTPROPOSAL ADDRESSES THESE PROBLEMS THROUGH THE USE OF CURRENTSTATE-OF-THE-ART SPEECH-RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY, AN OBJECT-ORIENTED USER INTERFACE FOR SYSTEM SETUP, AND AN AUTOMATED TRAINING PROCEDURE FOR THE USER.