Glove converts sign language into sound
It knows only 32 words, but someday, it may get a grip on the entire human vocabulary.
It is a sensor-equipped glove, known as HandTalk , that can translate gestures into spoken words on a cell phone. It was developed by students at
Three of the four team members, senior computer engineering students Bhargav Bhat, Hemant Sikaria and Jorge L. Meza , demonstrated the prototype yesterday at Carnegie Mellon's "Meeting of the Minds" expo of undergraduate research projects.
Someday, the young inventors hope, it may allow deaf people to communicate with those who don't know American Sign Language by having their cell phones speak their words aloud.
"That could be a big advantage" for hearing-impaired people, Mr. Bhat said. "It would cut out the need for an interpreter."
For now, the glove uses a primitive language system invented by the student team, which also includes master's student Wesley Jin .
When the glove is held in a fist, for instance, the cell phone says "Good morning." When the index finger, second finger and thumb are extended, it says, "I'm having a good time." And when the index finger, little finger and thumb are held out, it politely says, "Thank you for your time."
Underneath the hood of this system are several relatively inexpensive pieces of technology.
Along each finger and the thumb of the glove are flexor strips, which change their electrical resistance, depending on how much the digits are curled. The positions of the fingers are read by a chip and transmitted wirelessly to a cell phone, which is loaded with a vocabulary that corresponds to the gestures.
The cell phone then types the words as text messages, and an off-the-shelf program translates them into speech.
Mr. Bhat said HandTalk so far has been able to learn 15 of the 26 letters in the American Sign Language alphabet.
To learn the others, though, the team will have to add pressure sensors and accelerometers to the glove to determine when fingers are touching and how much the hand is rotating.
And to fully accommodate ASL, the system will have to use two gloves and measure the relative position of both hands.
On top of that, the team needs to learn how to adjust the gloves to each user, said electrical and computer engineering professor Priya Narasimhan , the team's adviser. One person may make a gesture with their hand at a 45-degree angle, while another may do the same at 60 degrees, she said, " so their biggest technical hurdle in developing this is the calibration."
The team hopes to begin testing the gloves with hearing-impaired people in about three or four months, Mr. Sikaria said.
The HandTalk project is one of several created this year in Dr. Narasimhan's Embedded System Design course, in which teams of four have to develop a product prototype in 15 weeks.
Among the other projects this term is a lighted jump rope that changes colors the faster someone skips and can deliver digital messages on how many calories are being burned, and a cell phone system that allows students sitting "in the nosebleed section" of a hockey game to tap into any video camera feed within the building and see it on their phone screens.
One project from last year's class already has resulted in a local spin-off company, Dr. Narasimhan said. The students developed a bar code reader for blind people that gets product and price information from the Web and reads it back to the shopper.
That project helped spawn HandTalk, she said.
"We started to look at assistive technologies for a wider range of people with disabilities, and one thing was obviously people who were deaf, who communicate with sign language, and it's interesting to be able to support them talking to people who don't know sign language through technology."
The technology itself would lend the gloves to several other uses, the students said. They could be used as game controllers, remote controls and even as a way for doctors to check how much hand function a patient had regained after an injury.
The students even rigged up HandTalk to play a tune by moving the fingers. And the instrument?
Mark Roth can be reached at mroth@post-gazette.com or at 412-263-1130
Mark Roth,
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08129/880014-28.stm
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Microsoft Improves Word for the Blind
Created via an open-source project, the new "Save as DAISY XML" add-on for Word 2003, XP, and 2007 makes it possible to save docs as Daisy Standard, the globally accepted method used to publish content for print-disabled users. They can download the add-on at the Open XML Community site.
That the project was created using open-source programming should only serve to help expand the accessibilities of the technologies.
Brian Heater
May 7, 2008
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2299079,00.asp
Computers give students, teachers instant feedback
Providence Junior/Senior High School has installed a computerized system called SMART - or self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology - in four classrooms. School officials hope to install more units, which cost about $7,500 per classroom, as more money becomes available.
Teachers can ask questions of students, who then enter their answer into a handheld device similar to a small remote control. The teacher can see how many students got the right answer and determine whether more review on a subject is needed.
"It's a very quick way to gauge the understanding of everybody across the board without that fear of being made fun of" by getting the wrong answer in front of the entire class, said School President Joan M. Hurley.
The technology is an effective way to engage students and is being adopted widely, said Amy Schellenberg, director of curriculum and instruction for the Greater Clark County schools.
The school district is incorporating the SMART system in classrooms as it builds and renovates schools, Schellenberg said, and it will be part of the $99 million high school now under construction.
The system gives immediate information about how each student is performing and can print out personalized study questions for each student who missed a question, said eighth-grade science teacher Ginger Shirley.
Shirley's students seem to be sold on the technology.
"It's a lot more fun," said Mackenzie Elliott, of
Information from: The Courier-Journal of
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IN_CLASSROOM_COMPUTERS_
INOL-?SITE=ININS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=
2008-05-08-01-02-06
May 8, 2008
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Scholarship guru teaches kids the ropes
UW student stresses life experience in applying for aid
When gearing up for college, the
Since his own days of filling out scholarship applications, Lim has helped others apply for hundreds more. It started with the creation of a Web site before he arrived at the UW and grew into a partnership with some of the university's mentorship programs.
Over two years, Lim has emerged as the UW's in-house scholarship expert, devoting mornings and afternoons every week to helping potential university students work through college and scholarship applications. He gives talks at high schools, conducts workshops and mentors out-of-state teens via e-mail.
Lim, a soft-spoken 20-year-old who walks with a slight but telling limp, says he's just paying it forward. Ultimately, he wants to show low-income students in high school that they, too, can use their life experiences to help with tuition.
Indeed, the UW's "Scholarshipman" had to overcome much more than winning admission to the UW to move from his family's home in
"Scholarships are an investment in your development as a person," Lim said in an interview. "It's an investment from an organization in a person.
"The biggest mistake I see is people forgetting to tell their story," he added.
That's a mistake he's trying to rectify with the students he advises through the UW's Dream Project and Making Connections programs -- both of which provide peer-to-peer mentorship to high schoolers.
On the side, Lim is working to revamp his longtime Web site (scholarshipjunkies.com) into an interactive resource for high school students around the country.
Earlier this week, Lim greeted students near the entry of
Need a pen? He brought a handful. Forgot your workbook? That's fine, but you have to bring snacks for everyone next week. Not sure how you're going to persuade a scholarship committee to choose you over hundreds of other applicants? Don't panic -- he has an answer for that, too.
"Scholarship essays are really personal essays that you have to reflect on," Lim said. "You have to know who you are."
Lim's own scholarship essay started out describing a basketball game he played in while in third grade, a game that ended with a sprained ankle that didn't heal quite right and a limp that became increasingly severe. After several consultations with doctors, he was diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological disorder that causes muscles to involuntarily contract.
As the disorder progressed, Lim had to give up basketball for crutches. "In fifth grade, I was kneeling at my desk -- I couldn't sit," he said.
Then in the sixth grade, he started using a wheelchair.
"As a little kid, I had always wanted to sit in a wheelchair and have someone push me around," Lim wrote in his essay, which chronicled his battle with dystonia. "This time, I could not have wanted anything less."
As the disorder progressed through his teenage years, Lim experienced ups and downs. He recalls having to recline in the wheelchair because sitting was impossible and that someone once mistook his disorder for an act of contortionism.
In his freshmen year, he had a metal pump installed in his abdomen to dispense a muscle relaxant, and that seemed to help. But Lim's life was transformed significantly more the summer before his senior year of high school, when he flew to
A doctor implanted electrodes in his brain and connected those to an electrical implant in his chest. After the surgery, Lim underwent months of physical therapy.
At his high school graduation, Lim walked across the stage to claim his diploma -- a goal he and his father, a
Lim tells the details of his story effortlessly -- something that comes with practice. He intends for the story to persuade high school students to dig deep within themselves and find their own story.
That's what scholarship organizations will ultimately be investing in, he said.
"He's really open about his story, which helps a lot," Fredolyn Millendez, a fellow Dream Project mentor, said as she and Lim prepared to leave Ingraham this week. "That makes students feel comfortable talking about the situations they might be in."
Lim remembers working with one student for hours over the course of days, trying to help make her scholarship essay more personal. Eventually, the girl e-mailed him to say she had rewritten the essay so that it didn't describe only her achievements -- it also described her life growing up without a father.
"I just want to be him -- I challenged myself with him as a guiding light," said Lily Ly, an Ingraham student who met Lim through the Making Connections mentorship program.
"During the springtime, when all the other mentors are like, 'Our jobs are done,' he's still there," Ly said.
With Lim's help, she has landed two scholarships and acceptance letters from seven universities.
Inspired by his pay-it-forward attitude, Ly, 18, has started working as a Dream Project mentor, even though she isn't through high school. That's the kind of ripple effect Lim is hoping for.
"Now that you have the scholarships, pass it on," he said.
- Take a step forward by taking a step back (with your scholarship essay). Don't just write about what you've done and how you did it. Go deeper.
- If you can swap essays with someone else's application and there's not a huge difference, it's not personal enough. Read your essay again and ask yourself if it speaks about you and your story.
- Think of a scholarship as a financial investment in your potential to succeed academically, to give back to society and to embody the core values of a scholarship organization. If you approach your applications with this mind set, you'll have an easier time figuring out how to best appeal to your audience.
- Most scholarships consider your track record of community service and leadership more than your grades and test scores. Grades are important, but not as much as what you're doing with your time outside of school.
- Sign up for a FastWeb.com, Scholarships.com or another scholarship Web site account. Check for new scholarship opportunities at least twice a week, and update your profile at least once every three weeks.
- Get started early. Fill out a personal data form and give it to teachers or counselors at least four weeks in advance for letters of recommendation, and make sure to follow up on their progress. Request official or unofficial transcripts in advance if necessary.
- For more of Sam's tips, visit his Web site, scholarshipjunkies.com.
- To find out more about this story, visit the P-I's education blog, blog.seattlepi.com/schoolzone.
P-I reporter Amy Rolph can be reached at 206-448-8223 or amyrolph@seattlepi.com. Read her School Zone blog at blog.seattlepi.com/schoolzone.
May 9, 2008
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/362369_scholarshipman09.html
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FAU portable robot mimics motions of physical therapists
The device, for which FAU has filed a provisional patent, does not resemble most people's idea of a robot - it's no C-3PO - but it uses computerized robotics to mimic motions used in physical therapy for injured patients or those who have suffered a stroke or have cerebral palsy.
The robot was presented last week in
"It takes a lot of time for a physical therapist to lead you through a specific motion, and it's very repetitive for the therapist," said FAU mechanical engineering Professor Oren Masory, who worked with graduate student Melissa Morris on the design and construction of the robot. "The idea was to create a machine that could produce those same tedious motions."
The robot works by having a patient hold onto a joystick that sits on top of a glass surface but is attached with a magnet to a computerized pulley system under the glass.
The pulleys take the patient through a series of routine motions that a therapist can program into the computer.
As the patient gets stronger, precise resistance measurements can be added to the pulley system through the computer so the motion will require an increasing amount of muscle. The robot also will track a patient's process and deliver the results electronically to a therapist.
The wood-and-glass prototype for the physical therapy device is primitive compared with what Morris and Masory imagine it can be if picked up by a medical equipment company or investment group for development.
But Masory said even a more advanced model shouldn't cost more than $3,000 to create - a key element in what makes the product marketable.
Current robotic systems for physical therapy are so expensive that most clinics cannot afford them, said Karen McCain, a physical therapist and assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
"No one has figured out how to move the robotics into the clinics where patients can use them, and that's clearly what these folks are interested in," said McCain, a member of the Alexandria, Va.-based American Physical Therapy Association. "You have to applaud them for that."
Masory envisions the robot as something patients can rent and take home, and that can be retrofitted to suit their specific needs. Though the current device is positioned horizontally, it also can be hung on the wall to work different upper-body muscles.
Mechanical engineering students this year will work on a similar physical therapy robot for leg muscles.
One concern McCain has is whether the robot will be able to maintain a patient's interest, which is one of the reasons Nintendo's Wii video games have become popular physical therapy devices.
But she said she has high hopes for FAU's robot.
"I'm a fan of this sort of stuff and would love to see it used clinically, instead of just in research," McCain said.
Kimberly Miller,
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/south/epaper/
2008/05/10/faurobot0511.html
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