Good afternoon! I'm Kerry J Harrison at the business desk and it's time for our weekly feature for those very important consumers that so many companies are still not paying attention to. I urge both consumers and companies to read this weekly feature as there is something for all stakeholders here.
On the one hand, we are providing a very unique selection of news articles to consumers with special needs and on the other, we are helping companies to identify their competition as well as those very niche and hidden markets.
We thank everyone for all of their feedback.
Here now are our selections of the week.
Table of contents
November 28 2007
1 ICAT 2007 Conference highlights needs of disabled travellers
2 Apple Patent Application for Tactile Touchscreen Published
3 Next generation disability technology
4 Lawsuit alleges US Airways discriminated against blind passenger
5 Talking Braille: A new tool to teach blind children
6 GPS gadget designed to foil child snatchers "could also be used as a mobile guide dog"
7 Can a T Cell-Based Neuroprotective Vaccination Prevent Glaucoma Progression?
8 Blind Customers Demand a Voice in Cell Phones
9 Man creates computer game for the blind
Bangkok Post, Thailand
Monday, October 15, 2007
ICAT 2007 Conference highlights needs of disabled travellers
By Imtiaz Muqbil
An International Conference on Accessible Tourism (ICAT 2007) for people with disabilities is to be held in Bangkok from Nov 22-24 to highlight the need for improved facilities and services for a growing but largely neglected market segment. ''With a generation of permanently disabled people having experienced increasing degrees of employment, education, and leisure, those of us with the means to travel belong to a consumer group that is only starting to be noticed,'' says Scott Rains, one of the conference organisers and publisher of the Rolling Rains Report, a newsletter on travel for people with disabilities.
The conference is being backed by Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, UN Escap and Disabled People's International Asia Pacific (DPI-AP). It will be held at the UN Escap convention centre.
There is no registration fee for participants with disabilities but they have to pay their own personal expenses and for any personal assistants. Accessible buses will be provided for airport pickup and send-off. Facilities such as accessible toilets, water fountains and lifts are available.
Essential sessions of the conference programme will be translated into Braille. A large-print programme will be prepared. English will be the official language, accompanied by a sign-language interpreter during the conference.
Mr Rains says the conference will contribute to change and development lines of tourism businesses to ensure a favorable environment for tourists and travellers with disabilities and retired, ageing people, including access to built environments and public transport as well as training and employment.
Says Mr Rains: ''Travel the world today and you will find that there is a hunger for community and solidarity among people with disabilities. Wherever you go you will find unique opportunities to learn from and contribute to local manifestations of disability culture.
When we travel we represent more than ourselves because we are part of a community. The very fact that you have a disability and travel suggests something about your economic condition. It indicates that you have credit, savings, education, maybe a profession that requires travel, but most importantly the ability to make decisions about the course of your life for yourself. That combination of means and dignity are potent means of social transformation.
''Leisure travel means moving beyond mere survival mode. A small but growing percentage of us have made the transition to economic stability but we are not equally distributed around the world. Travel spreads us around, which is to say that it spreads around living examples of an alternate lifestyle; ambassadors of choices still out of reach for some.
''How we chose to spend those resources _ even through our leisure activities _ has a profound impact.''
Mr Rains cited research showing American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility currently spend an average of US$13.6 billion a year on tourism. In 2002, these individuals made 32 million trips and spent $4.2 billion on hotels, $3.3 billion on airline tickets, $2.7 billion on food and beverages, and $3.4 billion on trade, transportation, and other activities.
Out of a total of 21 million persons, 69% had travelled at least once in the previous two years, including 3.9 million business trips, 20 million tourist trips, and 4.4 million business/tourist trips. In the previous two years, out of a total of two million adults with disabilities or reduced mobility, 7% had spent more than $1,600 outside the continental United States. In addition, 20% had travelled at least six times every two years.
A study by the Open Doors Organization estimated that in the year 2003, people with disabilities or reduced mobility spent $35 billion in restaurants. According to the same study, more than 75% of these people eat out at restaurants at least once a week. The United States Department of Labor reported that a large and growing market of Americans with disabilities or reduced mobility have $175 billion in purchasing/consumer power.
In the United Kingdom, the Employers' Forum on Disability estimated 10 million adults with disabilities or reduced mobility in the UK, with an annual purchasing power of 80 billion pounds sterling. The Canadian Conference Board reported that in 2001, the combined annual disposable income of economically active Canadians with disabilities or reduced mobility was C$25 billion.
A UN survey also found that by year 2050, the ageing population will rise to two billion and 54% of them will be in Asia.
The conference is supported by Pattaya City, Asia Pacific Disability Forum, The Redemptorist Foundation for People with Disabilities and the Council of Disabled People of Thailand. The conference website is http://www.dpiap.org
Imtiaz Muqbil is executive editor of Travel Impact Newswire, an e-mailed feature and analysis service focusing on the Asia-Pacific travel industry.
DailyTech.com
Monday, October 08, 2007
Apple Patent Application for Tactile Touchscreen Published
By Wolfgang Hansson
October 8, 2007 7:18 AM
Apple patent application outlines method of providing tactile feedback with a touchscreen
With the release of the iPhone, Apple brought multi-touch technology to the forefront. In March of 2006 Apple filed a patent application for a "Force Imaging Input Device and System" that appears to be meant to give tactile feel to touchscreen.
The patent application was published this week and outlines a touch pad that includes two sets of conductive traces separated by a spring membrane. Apple says when force is applied the spring membrane deforms, moving the two sets of traces closer together.
The patent application abstract goes on to say that the resulting change in mutual capacitance is used to generate and image indicative of the amount or intensity of force applies. The device says one or more inputs at the same time could be read.
The patent application describes a method where the amount of pressure applied to the touch pad would activate different commands or displays. One of the main complaints of the iPhone and most other touchscreen devices is that there is no tactile feedback to allow you to know when a button is touched or pressed.
Using the method described in this application, not only would tactile feedback be provided, but the traces that sense touch could activate one change and pressing the screen would activate another. This could be used to do things like change the color of a button when it is pressed, or initiate a vibration when the touch pad senses a touch to a button. When pushed, the tactile feedback would be there for the button press potentially alleviating the lack of tactile feel when operating a touch screen device.
BBC News, Scotland (UK)
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Next generation disability technology
By Ian Hamilton, BBC Scotland
Techshare is one of the largest disability technology conferences of its type in the UK.
Delegates from all over the world gathered in London's west end to debate all things technological - in the world of disability.
The hot topic this year was the digital revolution and whether disabled people were benefiting or being excluded from the digital world.
One of the areas highlighted in the conference was the advancement of specialist equipment and services.
For example: The Orion Web Box. This new piece of technology was developed by the Dutch company Specialist Radio.
The Web Box could change the web for people who have reading disabilities and the service user does not need a computer to access the internet.
It provides the listener with a potentially endless list of audio content from the web - internet radio, newspapers and talking books.
Half the size of a shoe box, it has a very simple operation.
With the touch of one button, the menu is read out to the user providing them with the simplest way to make a selection.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Additional box
A broadband connection is essential, however, no computer is required.
At £280 not everyone could afford the Box but for those who are not confident with computers it may be the ideal option.
The conference also drew attention to the high number of disabled people missing out due to the lack of accessible technology and those who have not been accessing the new digital technology such as Audio Described Television.
This is when a separate audio track is broadcast giving commentary on what is happening on the screen when action is taking place.
Currently, you can only receive this if you are a Sky or a Virgin Media subscriber. Otherwise, you will have to buy a separate additional box to get this service.
If you have Freeview, this is a particular problem as an extra box to do this could cost upwards of £400.
However, under the digital switchover help scheme, the government has plans for a box for people with certain disabilities, those who are registered blind and partially sighted and those people aged over 75.
The Royal National Institute of the Blind has been heavily involved in setting the specification for the box which will carry audio description.
Audio description will be available via a single button, with other access features, including an improved remote control layout.
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, USA
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Lawsuit alleges US Airways discriminated against blind passenger
By John Shiffman
October 11, 2007 5:30 PM
PHILADELPHIA - A blind Philadelphian has sued US Airways for discrimination, alleging that flight attendants ignored him after his plane landed here and that he injured his head when he tried to make it off the plane by himself.
In a lawsuit docketed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, singer-songwriter Wilson Charles, 28, charged that airline employees began treating him rudely in West Palm Beach, Fla., when he arrived for the Oct. 10, 2005, flight.
''It was really outrageous and inexcusable,'' said Charles' lawyer, Nessa B. Math.
Math said that it is obvious that Charles is blind because, among other things, he wears dark glasses and carries a walking stick. ''When someone is disabled, common decency would dictate that you give them what they need to be comfortable on an airplane,'' she said.
Charles said that US Airways personnel in West Palm Beach and Philadelphia ignored him and repeatedly shouted at him. ''Because I'm disabled, they treated me like I'm not even a person,'' he said.
A US Airways spokeswoman, Valerie Wunder, declined to comment.
Charles, who plays piano and write gospel songs, went to West Palm Beach to record a record. A native of Haiti, he was born legally blind. His left eye is useless and he can see only vague images in the other eye, he said.
When he purchased round-trip tickets online, Charles said, he requested and received ''priority customer'' status for boarding and exiting assistance. He said that he called US Airways several times to confirm this, and had no problems on the flight to Florida.
But on the return trip, Charles said, he arrived at the gate an hour early in West Palm Beach, where a gate agent told him he would have to wait until everyone else boarded.
''When I said, 'This is not right, I am disabled,' the US Airways guy started screaming at me. He said, 'Can't you see I'm busy?' I tried to protest and he said, 'If you say another word, I'm going to take you off this flight.'''
Eventually, gate agents put Charles in a seat toward the back of the plane, he said.
When the plane arrived in Philadelphia, Charles said, he was ignored again. When he tried to leave, he said, a US Airways employee screamed at him to sit down. When he decided to leave on his own, he said, his head hit the luggage rack, causing injuries to his eyes and head that required medical attention.
The lawsuit cites a federal law that Math said requires airlines to help disabled passengers board and exit planes. The suit alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and negligence.
The suit does not seek a specified monetary claim, but does seek punitive damages. Typically, cases in federal court seek damages in excess of $75,000. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Bruce W. Kauffman.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
SciDev.Net
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Talking Braille: A new tool to teach blind children
By Supriya Kumar
Learning Braille can be a formidable challenge in developing countries. Supriya Kumar profiles a new device that's addressing the task.
Imagine picking a hundred blind people at random from around the world. Chances are that 90 of them would come from developing countries. Of these 90, a large proportion would be living in poverty and only two would be literate.
At less than three per cent, the literacy rate among blind people in developing countries is extremely low, even in comparison with the low general literacy rate, which is 50 per cent in some countries.
Often, parents do not see the value in educating their blind children. Even if they do, children may not receive appropriate attention in traditional schools. Very few teachers are trained to teach Braille, a written language for the blind, in which letters are represented by a group of raised dots that are felt with fingertips.
But reading and writing Braille is important: it is very difficult to learn mathematics orally, and Braille is important for the economic independence of the blind.
So researchers in the United States have developed a Braille 'tutor', which tackles many of the issues faced by new Braille learners in the developing world.
The challenges of Braille
Braille is written using an array of different tools, depending on the available resources. In the developed world, Braille-writers use a six-key typewriter called a Brailler. At US$600 dollars, these fast and easy-to-use devices are too expensive for most in the developing world.
Children in developing countries use a slate and stylus - a writing utensil - to emboss Braille characters onto the back of thick paper. Embossing a mirror image from right to left on the back of the page ensures that what is written can be read from left to right when the page is right side up.
To be able to read and write Braille, children thus need to learn not just each letter in the Braille alphabet, but also its mirror image. Furthermore, feedback on whether they've written the characters correctly is delayed until the page is flipped over. The entire process presents a formidable challenge to young children learning to read and write.
Another challenge for learners arises from the fair amount of strength required to emboss dots onto thick paper using the stylus.
"Weaker students and small children have problems learning braille," says Gubbi Muktha, managing trustee of Mathru School for the Blind in Yelahanka, near Bangalore, India.
"The Braille slate itself is heavy for the weaker and smaller children. Holding it is another big problem. In addition to this, holding a stylus and putting pressure through it to get the print of the dot is even more difficult."
The electronic solution
Nidhi Kalra, of TechBridgeWorld - a venture of the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, United States - that aims to develop and implement technology to aid sustainable development around the world, decided to tackle some of these issues.
She asked Tom Lauwers, a fellow student at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, if he knew anyone who might be interested in building hardware that could be used with software she had written.
Lauwers jumped at the opportunity and together they decided to produce a robust, low-cost, low-power, electronic Braille tutor. They wanted it to be something that could be used for a long time, whose parts were available locally and could be replaced using local manpower.
Their tutor - an electronic slate and stylus - uses affordable electronics to track contact between the slate and stylus, and text-to-speech software to provide immediate, audio feedback.
Kalra and Lauwers are developing the first generation tutor in close collaboration with the students and teachers at the Mathru School for the Blind in India. When Kalra took the Braille tutor to Mathru for field tests in the summer of 2006, the response she got was overwhelmingly positive.
Interactive learning
Mathru is a residential school with 45 blind students and eight teachers, six of whom are blind themselves. Kalra found that after six weeks of using the Braille tutor, students who previously made frequent mistakes started writing noticeably faster, with almost no mistakes.
"Now the small children and weaker students of Mathru are happily learning Braille as it is easy and also fun learning," says Muktha.
Even students who were fluent in Braille enjoy using the tutor because of the audio feedback. Overall, Kalra found that students and teachers seemed to be writing much more.
Based on feedback from teachers and students at Mathru, Lauwers designed the tutor to feel like the slate the students are used to, by placing a cut-out of a normal plastic Braille slate over the top of two rows of Braille cells in the tutor.
The stylus is also a normal Braille stylus, connected to the tutor by a wire. In addition to two rows of 16 cells each, the tutor also has four buttons that can be programmed so the students can interact with the tutor.
For example, one button mutes the speaker so that advanced users can write without audio feedback; another button allows students to choose between writing right-to-left or left-to-right.
Each alphabet in English Braille is written as a set of six dots in a cell. The tutor feeds back on both the dot sequence and the letter that the sequence encodes, thereby reinforcing the sequence to the beginner.
Further, the tutor provides this audio feedback as soon as the writer touches the stylus to the slate, removing the need for strength that would be required to emboss paper.
The software for the tutor uses a digitised version of a Mathru teacher's voice for audio feedback, as the children - especially the younger ones - had difficulty understanding the American accent normally used in text-to-speech software.
The tutor can be tailored to address the specific needs of the student based on their level of fluency in Braille. The tutor can be adjusted to read out the position of the dots in the cell, the letter and - for students well-versed with the alphabet - just the final word or sentence they have written.
The tutor has also been useful in diagnosing students' problems with Braille. Mangala, a student at Mathru, always completely embossed all six dots of a Braille cell before she started using the Tutor, suggesting that she didn't understand the concept of Braille.
But the tutor showed she understood the concept; her mistake was that she wasn't moving from one cell to the next as she wrote the sequence of letters. So, for instance, she would emboss dots one and three of a cell for the letter 'k', and then, dots one, two, four and five of the same cell for the letter 'n'.
Her teachers, who are also blind, realised that this was the case because the tutor would read aloud the letters she was embossing.
Work is underway to produce the next generation of the tutor, which could be tested later this year.
Kalra found that students at Mathru were often scared of touching the original stylus because of the wire that connects it to the tutor, so in the new version of the tutor, the stylus interacts with the slate wirelessly.
Shivayogi Hiremath, an engineer who has undertaken a pilot project to produce six tutors locally in Bangalore, says that mass production in India will require some adjustments to the electronics design so that locally-available materials can be used.
"All details of hardware and software design will be made open-source. It should, therefore, be fairly easy to adjust the design if need be, in order to produce the tutor in large numbers," says Lauwers.
Hiremath and Anil Biradar, an IBM (International Business Machines Cooperation) employee in India, helped to get a US$1000 donation from IBM for the Mathru School, so they can continue to explore local production of the tutor.
For now, the Mathru School has three tutors, and is expecting to have some more available soon, thanks to the grant from IBM. Mathru also plans to introduce and encourage use of the tutor among potential users outside the school, once there are enough tutors available.
All too often, technology used in developing countries is not designed with the explicit needs of local people in mind. But the Braille tutor appears to be a case of technology from the 'bottom up'. The need for the Braille tutor existed, and Kalra and Lauwers are successfully providing the technology to address that need.
Supriya Kumar is a biologist and a freelance writer from Bombay, India, currently working towards a degree in public health at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States.
I C Newcastle (UK)
Sunday, October 14, 2007
GPS gadget designed to foil child snatchers "could also be used as a mobile guide dog"
By Phil Doherty, Sunday Sun
A GADGET that a scientist claimed helped him beat a speeding fine can also be used to keep youngsters safe from child snatchers, the Sunday Sun can reveal.
Inventor Doctor Phillip Tann said his device is so accurate it could be used to keep tabs on toddlers playing in a garden and track teenagers to their exact location.
Because of its higher accuracy than conventional global positional systems Dr Tann, claims it could also be used as a mobile "guide dog" to help blind people navigate around towns.
He said: "It is designed to make road travel more safe and help ease congestion, but it has myriad uses including child tracking.
"If you map out your house and garden boundary into the system it will tell you if your child leaves the boundary. If the child is moving faster than 10mph you'd know instantly that someone has taken them in a car and you could quickly raise the alarm.
"Older teenagers who borrow your car could be tracked from home if it was installed in the vehicle. But it can also be placed in a mobile phone and parents could also use it to make sure youngsters are where they claim to be."
Dr Tann claimed his device helped him escape a speeding fine after he was clocked by a police hand-held laser speed gun in Sunderland while driving through the city using the gadget to collect road data. According to Northumbria Police, he was travelling at 42mph in a 30mph zone.
However, he claims that his device shows he was only travelling at 29.177196mph.
He presented his evidence at a recent court hearing in Sunderland and pleaded not guilty.
The Crown Prosecution Service then dramatically dropped the case because, they said, the officer who had operated the speed gun had retired and refused to attend court.
Dr Tann, whose company Autopoietic Systems (Tann Ltd) is based in Birtley, Gateshead, got the idea for the device while working with BT to improve broadband connections.
He said that the internet acts like a superhighway and that the information moves through this network in packages much the same as cars travel along roads. It works by taking exact maps of roads and comparing that data to existing global positioning technology, which is only accurate within a 10 metre radius. The two sets of information are brought together to produce a more exact location finder.
The device records its location every half a metre and time taken between the two points and derives the speed from that.
That is then sent to a computer database which then tells the handset where it is.
Phillip added: "It can also be used by the police and other emergency services to plot routes that avoid heavy traffic and congestion. This works by having a database of all the roads that highlights danger spots such as around schools and where congestion is likely to occur at certain times of the day."
Biocompare News
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Can a T Cell-Based Neuroprotective Vaccination Prevent Glaucoma Progression?
By American Academy of Ophthalmology
Schwartz et al. recently demonstrated that a T cell-based vaccination, using synthetic antigens (glatiramer acetate, also known as Copolymer-1 or Cop-1) that cross-react weakly with retinal and optic nerve antigens, reduces the loss of retinal ganglion cells in a rat model of chronic glaucoma.1 This vaccine not only boosted the T-cell response, it did it without causing an autoimmune disease.
The vaccination did not prevent glaucoma, but it slowed its progression by controlling the local extracellular environment of the nerve and retina. In other words, vaccination created an environment more conducive to neuronal survival and helped the retinal ganglion cells withstand the stress.
Human studies are underway. If it is successful, this innovative approach would complement conventional glaucoma treatment.
REFEREENCE
1. Schwartz M. Modulating the immune system: a vaccine for glaucoma? Can J Ophthalmol. 2007;42(3):439-441.
(SOURCE)
Speech Technology Magazine
Monday, October 01, 2007
Blind Customers Demand a Voice in Cell Phones
By Leonard Klie
Blind and visually impaired customers have started legal action against the cell phone industry to improve cell phone accessibility with features like speech output for people who cannot read the phone's display screen.
In early August, 11 customers from Florida, Georgia, Colorado, California, and West Virginia filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), asking for tighter enforcement of Section 225 of the Federal Communications Act, which requires phones to be accessible for people with disabilities. Complaints were filed against both cell phone carriers and manufacturers. Representatives of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) filed similar complaints.
One of the complaints came from Tony Claive, a blind resident of Winter Park, Fla. "In order to access the features of the MotorolaQ, I had to make an additional out-of-pocket purchase of Mobile Speaks (a screen reader) to access the cell phone features," he said in his written statement. "While this phone is more accessible than the Katana with my add-on software, it was quite expensive, and I would not have purchased it if my previous phone was accessible. Being blind forced me to stretch my budget to the limits in order to have access to my cell phone's features."
Douglas Brooks of Winston, Ga., was another complainant. "I cannot text message, surf the Internet, or use the phone book," he noted. "Additionally, the numbers displayed on the keypad are too small for me to read, thus I have to use the voice recognition feature to call contacts in my phone book. This poses some limitations because I can only program in 10 names, yet I have many more contacts than this amount."
The most common complaints filed by blind and visually impaired cell phone users include:
cell phones do not provide for audio output of information displayed on the screen;
visual displays on most phones are hard to read;
numeric and control keys are not easy to distinguish by touch;
product manuals or phone bills are not available in braille, large print, or other formats they can read; and
cell phones work with software to enable input for blind users, but the technology is expensive and not widely available.
"These complaints illustrate a market failure on the part of the cell phone industry to address accessibility," says Paul Schroeder, vice president of the Programs and Policy Group at the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). "While some companies have taken steps, consumers with vision loss have few good options for accessibility and almost no reliable information about accessibility."
The AFB did, however, single out AT&T as one company that has made great strides in accessibility for the blind. In July, the company announced plans to partner with Code Factory to offer two new products, Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier, for the blind and visually impaired. Mobile Speak is a screen reader with speech feedback in several languages and braille support for features like speed dialing, text messaging, a calendar, calculator, Internet browser, voice recorder, Microsoft Office applications, Media Player, phone/device settings, profiles, alarms, and ringtones. Mobile Magnifier is a full-screen magnification application. Both can be used with or without speech feedback.
"I am pleased to see that AT&T is showing real leadership on the accessibility front. Now more companies need to take the initiative," Schroeder says. "Given today's technological advancements-advertised constantly by cell phone carriers-it is particularly shameful that access features are not being made available. If AT&T can harness new technology to add features for people with vision loss, then all cell phone carriers and manufacturers can."
Jennifer Simpson, senior director of telecommunications policy at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), a COAT affiliate, agrees. "Wireline, wireless, and VoIP companies and manufacturers are required to make services and products disability-accessible and usable," she says. "Companies scoff at federal law when they fail to design at the front end for the needs of people with all kinds of disabilities. We urge the industry to take more action now so that people with disabilities, including the growing population of seniors, can purchase wireless phones and services without becoming exasperated and frustrated by unusable phones and unresponsive customer service."
Reno Gazette Journal, Nevada USA
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Man creates computer game for the blind
By LENITA POWERS
Caption: Assistant professor Eelke Folmer sits next to his computer character in his office at the University of Nevada, Reno. Folmer is developing a virtual game for the blind that uses voice commands. ANDY BARRON/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
It began with an e-mail.
Eelke Folmer, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, had created a Web site that offered solutions to people who ran into problems when they tried to play computer games.
"Then, one day, someone said, 'Hey, I'm a quadriplegic, and the things you are doing could help people with disabilities,'" Folmer said.
Not long after that, he joined the International Game Developers Association and became a member of its Game Accessibility special interest group.
While some people might dismiss the project as merely providing the disabled with a frivolous pastime, it's much more than that, said Michelle Hinn, head of the Game Accessibility group.
"Computer games can be a way of relieving stress, but for the disabled, it's also provides social interaction," said Hinn, an instructor of game design at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Based on U.S Census Bureau statistics, about 10 percent of the population is disabled, she said.
Hinn said she gets numerous calls from doctors of patients, parents of children and families of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who are newly disabled.
"Computer games were something they really loved to do, but now they can't because they're missing a limb or they're quadriplegics or they've gone blind," Hinn said. "So, telling them there are games out there for them has worked almost like a miracle, but those games are rare and the availability is limited."
With the help of a $90,448 grant from the National Science Foundation, Folmer and graduate students David Carr and Bei Yuan are working to open the door to computer games for the disabled.
Their research focuses on developing a prototype that will allow blind players to use voice commands alone to navigate through the popular online 3-D virtual world "Second Life" and eventually interact with the other "residents" there.
"We just need to develop the right text output, and that is not a very easy problem to solve," Folmer said.
The world in "Second Life" is designed solely by its own residents, people from around the world who now number more than nine million, including the 30-year-old Folmer.
He has his own character -- or avatar as they're known in the game world -- that can talk with other residents, buy property, build a business or a home and visit places such as Paris to climb the Eiffel Tower.
Blind gamers will be able to press a button and a computer voice will provide information about their immediate surroundings, Folmer said.
"It would tell them, 'There are two avatars in front of you and a building to the north,'" he said. "You would classify what's around them based on its size and proximity to sketch (a mental) image for them."
A growing number of universities with virtual campuses online also have virtual auditoriums where people can attend lectures, so Folmer's research could have educational applications for the disabled. Under federal law, anyone with a disability must have access to such educational opportunities, he said.
While Folmer's research primarily targets the blind, he hopes it will convince major manufacturers to develop computer games that also can be used by players who are hearing impaired or have cognitive or physical disabilities.
It could be as easy as, for the hearing impaired, including closed captioning in every game, Folmer said.
"The game industry is very money-driven," said Folmer, who moved from the Netherlands to Edmonton, Alberta in Canada before joining the UNR faculty last year.
"When you try to sell your research, you really need to convince game developers they should make their games accessible to the disabled," he said. "And that's what we're trying to do first with 'Second Life.'"
Folmer and Hinn will be making the same pitch next week when they attend the Entertainment for All Expo in the Los Angles Convention Center.
The E for All Expo will be Thursday through Oct. 21 and attracts consumers, software developers, venture capitalists and entertainment industry representatives, including the big three: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, Hinn said.
Her Gaming Accessibility group has been given a free booth at the Expo.
"My job is the mouthpiece, the evangelist yelling for recognition of the needs of gamers with disabilities," she said. "I can lobby the president of a company, but without people like Eelke, we don't have anything to show them. He is the programmer. He creates the solutions."
Help for gamers
You can visit University of Nevada, Reno associate professor Eelke Folmer's Web site that describes problems novice gamers, the elderly and the disabled face
when trying to play online games and offers solutions at
Game Accessibility
Visit the Game Accessibility special interest group's Web site at
E-mail Michelle Hinn, head of the Game Accessibility special interest group, at hinn@uiuc.edu
Download free prototype game
Click here for AudiOdyssey, an experimental computer game designed to be accessible to the visually impaired and mainstream gamers.
According to the Singapore-MIT Gambit Web site, "the user stars as Vinyl Scorcher, an up-and-coming DJ, on his quest to get club patrons dancing. Swinging the Nintendo Wii controller to the beat, Vinyl lays down the various component tracks of a song, and keeps the party jumping. If he does an especially good job, he can even freestyle! But beware: if dancers get too rowdy, they're likely to bump into the turntables, messing up Vinyl's tracks. Think you have what it takes?"
The Windows version of the game requires:
Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista
1.8 GHz Pentium-class processor or better
1GB of RAM
32MB video RAM For Wiimote play:
1 Nintendo Wiimote (Sensor Bar not used)
Bluetooth
If you're seeking additional info on consumers with special needs then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html and there you'll find a wealth of articles and info that will keep you up to date with news for consumers with special needs. This magazine is a free online monthly magazine and is yours for the taking. You can download as many issues as you like.
At the business desk, I'm Kerry J Harrison wishing you a pleasant day.
