The Most Humanistic DIY award goes to MICK EBELING

The eyewriter DIY iris reader with open source software, enables an ALS survivor to continue to make graffiti with his eyes.

TED Talks
http://www.ted.com/talks/mick_ebeling_the_invention_that_unlocked_a_locked_in_artist.html

other links:

http://www.eyewriter.org/diy/

http://notimpossiblefoundation.org/index.php

I hope we can DIY this for paralyzed musicians trapped in their body as well.
I have a paralyzed friend who was very talented and play to find a way to unlock his talents again.
I will start with the eyewriter and sees how it goes, then try to figure ways to incorporate music apps.
(even a the simple ipad guitar app would be a leap)
Maybe some people here can help?
Any ideas would be thoroughly welcomed.

Very cool idea, i wish i could help, well maybe i can, will see as the thread goes....

guavatone said:

Maybe some people here can help?
Any ideas would be thoroughly welcomed.

Click to expand...

Charlie,

What a fantastic project.  I'm useless to you from a technical point of view but if you need help raising funds for parts etc just say the word and we'll get an auction or raffle happening.  Can you imagine being trapped in your body with no way to express yourself?  My father in law died from ALS so I this is close to home.  Let me know what you need.

Cheers,
Ruairi

Thanks for the kind offering Ruairi, as of now I have no idea what is needed other than interest in helping and
most likely programming and digital circuit knowledge.  Sorry to hear about your in-law.

My friend had brain damage in an area for motor function. He can move, but has palsy
like spasms, or muscle contractions.  I think it's called cerebral hypoxia.

I am sure some guru's will be able to help with circuits on the collaboration pages. (link below)
Here they are sussing out a flip flop, which a few here would be able to get them there in 2 minutes.

http://collab.eyewriter.org/?paged=2

No problem Charlie, if you need help when it comes time to build prototypes or whatever just shout.  Good luck with it.

Cheers,
Ruairi

Nice coincidence : This is actually my dayjob. I do electronics repairs to eyegaze systems and communication (speech) devices, along with environment control repairs.

Regarding your friend : Check the software "The Grid 2" by sensory software. This is a program we use with eyegaze systems. It might be able to use this to control DAW and sequencer software.

Oh, before I forget : I don't have any IR Iris controlled stuff , but I do have a couple "tracker one" devices as leftovers, in case your friend is able to move his head just a little bit, then this might be useable for a little while.

http://www.assistivetechnologies.com/detail.asp?product=54287&name=Tracker

It's the same as the newer version Tracker Pro (but the Tracker one is better built).
http://www.madentec.com/products/tracker-pro.php

If this might do the trick, let me know.

And another thing that might help : There's autoclick software available from Madentec (magiccursor), and also something similar from the company where I work. This together with a mousepointer (like Iris controlled mouses or the tracker one) and the windows onscreen keyboard, should be enough for controling a sequencer, and compose music. Unfortunately, the software isn't free, but most of the software has a demoperiod of 60 days, so that should get your friend started.

Maybe I can dig up something free.... I'll check tomorrow.

LOVE IT !

Thanks Helterbelter.  I was leaning towards mac since garage band is a bit fool proof and I have an old G4 laptop he could use.  The PC stuff looks cool for general stuff.  I plan to make one of these iris Ir's since he used to paint as well.  I am trying to find info on a Steven Hawkings voice DIY too.  It looks like he's stayed with older apps like equalizer.

Wow! I checked eygaze's website and it looks very good.  I really need to talk to the family and see what they have done already.

Do you know of any mac apps?

This has been a truly emotional day.  And at the end of the day I surreptitiously was granted
with this jewel from wilco:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqTKN8DQIXI

"Watch out for your friends
Well they may lose in the end
Sometimes their child can make you sin
What is a man without a friend?
We all live within a game
The word 'excuse' has many names
Where true friends really come
You can't afford to lose one

If all men were truly brothers
Why then do we hurt one another?
Love and peace from ocean to ocean
Somebody please second my emotion!
All men were born to be free, yeah
What about you? And what about me?
This world is filled with hate!
There's nothing left
If you enslave me, you'll never rescue yourself

Well jealousy, as I recall
Has always been man's hardest fall
To conquer fear, well that's quite a quest
Until we do never rest
A child was born yesterday
Nothing but an innocent babe
Someone sowed a bitter seed
How could it grow but a bitter weed?
Society, how can you teach
If you don't practice what you preach?

If all men were truly brothers
Why then, can't we love one another?
Love and peace from ocean to ocean
Somebody please second my emotion!
All men were born to be free, yeah
What about you? What about me?
This world is filled with hate!
There's nothing left
If you enslave me, you'll only hurt yourself

Hey you! Over there!
I want to know why you left
With all your riches and your fancy things
Can you tell me how many friends can you truly say you have? "

guavatone said:

Do you know of any mac apps?

Click to expand...

Mac, no, not really. Although most of the mouse apps use normal mouse drivers, so that shouldn't be the problem. But the autoclick software will be a problem.

I just checked Dragger32. This is discontinued autoclick software that you can install for free. But it's only for windows, up to XP (not 64 bit, and not tested on Vista or W7). However, i think this is exactly what you need with a mousepointer (whether it's Iris control, joystick, or tracker one).

Maybe my suggestion for the tracker one wasn't clear enough : I'm willing to send it free of charge. But if your friend isn't able to move his head, even just a little bit, it has no use.

He can move his head I think.  It's not really paralysis, but more of muscle stiffness. As he is mostly in bed or wheelchair.  I will PM my address, and manage an XP machine to test.  Thanks for your generosity.

Very different handicap, and a simpler assistance device.... but way over-priced?

Fundraisers to help County family buy device to help child communicate - (link to newspaper site)

"youngster was diagnosed ... difficult for her to speak. ...able to communicate only by using a speech generating device... ...held a fundraiser ... raise the $7,000 necessary ....for Destiny... a speech generating device of her own."

A $39 Speak-And-Spell toy? With bigger vocabulary, maybe ruggedized, probably heavy support. But $7K?

Seems to me like a $1K tablet or iPad plus a simple program plus a LOT of image-clips and time in a recording booth.

Not quite that simple.... it should have shortcuts for the common words like a an the and or to..., and as the child learns her letters it should take texting with prediction.

Perhaps the biggest problem is the voice-clips. Speech-synth has been around for 30 years and hasn't got much better. Steven Hawkings can get away with monotone drone, but a child like Destiny should have a "real" voice. Get Meryl or GaGa to donate clips? Or Destiny's sister? Something like an iPad should be able to record words, making vocabulary-growth Destiny's problem/project/pride?

The speech synth for the iPad isn't bad, audibly.  But I am not sure of the word count.  It seems like the right code written for iPan could do a lot.  

Yeah $7K! Overpriced devices is what the eywriter was trying to get around. and they did.

Ty PRR


Here's iPad assistive speech app for $190
http://www.proloquo2go.com/

I have no idea why they didn't try to save $6K.  Though it is encouraging when a community acts selflessly.

a $1K ish solution
http://www.gusinc.com/2010/iPad.html

Free:
http://verballyapp.com/

A Bunch more:
http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/blog/new-technologies/2010/07/iphoneipad-apps-for-aac/

It looks like a Dynavox M3. They charge that much because they started the PCS symbol library, which became a standard. And of course, small production quantities equals high production prices. But still too pricey for what it really is. The machine itself is easy in use, but in my opinion the recent Dynavox stuff is crap. We receive faulty M3's and M3maxes weekly, even though we didn't sell many.

Using Ipads crossed my mind also, but I think Android will be a better platform.

Charles, I'll pack it up this week, and send it to you. I think I can email the Dragger 32 software to you. I hope this will get your friend started faaaaaast !

greetings,

Paul