Brain Scanner Being Used To Give Stephen Hawking A New Voice

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
World renowned scientist Stephen Hawking has given so much to the world of physics. Now he’s doing what he can for biology – and perhaps he will benefit from the experience himself in a big way. Hawking is testing the iBrain, a user-friendly brain scanner that can be worn all the time. At the very least the tests will help to improve the iBrain, but if things go exceedingly well, the device could help Hawking to speak. Hawking suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a condition in which neurons involved in controlling movement are impaired or dead. As is the case with Hawking, the disease leaves many of its victims severely handicapped. Already having difficulties communicating, a tracheotomy in 1985 removed Hawking’s ability to speak altogether. Right now, in order talk Hawking relies on a tiny IR sensor that detects twitches in his cheek muscle. To formulate words, let alone sentences, is time-consuming and tedious task. Last summer the founder of NeuroVigil, Philip Low, brought one of his company’s brain scanners to Hawking’s house in Cambridge, England. Low hopes that the iBrain will be able to read the 70-year-old physicist’s brain signals and send them to a computer where they would be translated into speech. They’re only getting started, however, and it is really way too early to know if the iBrain will be effective, but Low recently announced some encouraging, albeit very preliminary results. During his visit, Low asked Hawking to think about making a fist. Even though he is incapable of actually making a fist, just by thinking of it, the neurons in his motor cortex still “commanded” his hand to do it. The iBrain was able to see the change in brain activity that corresponded to the command. Like I said, pretty preliminary. Detecting a change from a clenched fist is a far cry from translating brain activity into words and sentences. Low plans on returning to Hawking’s house this summer to continue the study.

Via singularityhub.com

Samsung Develops Low-Cost “Eye Mouse”

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
A group of engineers at Samsung Electronics have come up with a low-cost eye-controlled computer mouse that they hope will enable a wider number of severely disabled people to use computers. Samsung’s “eyeCan” device builds on the functions of the eyeWriter, allowing users to enter text by blinking while looking at an on-screen keyboard and includes a navigation function for users to do things like exploring streets on a map. While the product isn’t unique, similar devices already in the market have hefty price tags of up to around $10,000. Samsung isn’t actually selling the eyeCan; it provides the software and instructions on how to make the device from readily available components costing around $50.

Via blogs.wsj.com

Now your tongue can secretly operate a computer, wheelchair

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease

Many with ALS or high-level spinal-cord injuries have been relying for years on the old sip-and-puff technology to operate wheelchairs and computers. This tech requires the user to sip or puff precise amounts of air pressure into a straw, and it is anything but subtle. The operation of wheelchairs and other devices could soon be far less conspicuous, thanks to a prototype dental retainer developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology–for those who don’t mind getting their tongues pierced, that is. Featuring a small retainer that fits along the roof of the mouth, the Tongue Drive System uses sensors to track the movement of a tiny magnet on the user’s tongue, thereby allowing the user to issue commands by pointing his or her tongue in different directions. The researchers presented the prototype, which improves on an earlier version whose sensors were mounted onto a headset, at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco this week.
Via news.cnet.com

NeuroSky to develop iOS assistive technology apps

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
NeuroSky, which specializes in mass-market brain-computer interface technology (BCI), says it’s bringing its user interface with the brain to the next level with a new wave of “killer mobile apps” for patients with severely limited communication conditions, including Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Cerebral Palsy (CP), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and others. These conditions relegate people with otherwise healthy minds to be trapped in their bodies unable to communicate. NeuroSky is launching a campaign on the crowdfunding site IndieGogo, to raise US$50,000. Proceeds will pay “top-tier, disruptive thinking” developers to create a new type of user interface for assistive technology applications on mobile devices.
Via www.mactech.com

Scientists decode words from brain signals

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
Scientists say they’ve used a computer program to decode a person’s brain waves and reconstruct the words a person hears. They think this technology could one day be used to eavesdrop on a person’s thoughts.Sound too invasive? Scientists hope it could one day help people who lose the ability to speak. “This is huge for patients who have damage to their speech mechanisms because of a stroke or Lou Gehrig’s disease and can’t speak,” Dr. Robert Knight, professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley, said in a written statement. “If you could eventually reconstruct imagined conversations from brain activity, thousands of people could benefit.”
Via www.cbsnews.com

Getting Up: The Tempt One Story Review, Wins Audience Award

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease

Street art. Gee-whiz tech. An indomitable human spirit. A commercial director’s eye for details. Getting Up, a documentary about how graffiti artist Tempt One gets back to making art after being stricken with a disease that leaves him virtually paralyzed, is an exceptional story crafted into an exceptional film. Tony “Tempt One” Quan is one of the legends of the graffiti scene in Los Angeles. His lettering style is admired by fans and fellow artists, and his sense of community make him one of the lynchpins of the graffiti world. So when he was diagnosed in 2003 as having ALS, the debilitating condition also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease that leaves its victims paralyzed, it was a blow to the graffiti world. Enter Mick Ebeling, entrepreneur, philanthropist and street art fan. When Ebeling hears about Quan’s condition, he decides to give some money to the Tempt One ALS Foundation and learn some more about the man. This begins a journey for the two men, with Mick working to recruit technologists and craftsmen for a project that with the goal of getting Tempt back to doing what he does: rock fresh and funky styles on walls.
Via www.youtube.com

Constructive communication. RN creates communication device for ALS patient

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
When home care nurse Karen Cafeo, RN, would visit her patient Michael Simmons, she felt his frustration. The 45-year-old with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was a strapping man but the disease had progressed to the point that he only could make guttural sounds to communicate. He had tried the EyeMax System, a tool that helps people with speech difficulties communicate by staring at a letter on a screen to spell out words. But Simmons found it hard to concentrate enough to use it. Cafeo started searching the Web for communication tools for patients with ALS. She found a great deal of information but one particular article really caught her eye.
Via news.nurse.com

Top 10 Alternative & Augmentative Communication (AAC) Apps for iPad

Via Scoop.it – ALS Lou Gehrig’s Disease
The iPad continues to make communication more accessible and cost-effective for persons with developmental and speech disabilities. Mobile apps provide many of the vocabulary building and text-to-speech features of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) devices for far less than products such as the Dynavox Maestro.
Via assistivetechnology.about.com