The Archimedes Project - Neil Scott

Presentation at the Technology and Society Committee 04/15/2003
http://tian.greens.org/TASC.shtml

Announcement:

Neil Scott is Director and co-founder of The Archimedes Project, an
independent research organization at Stanford University since 1991 that
studies barriers to accessing and using information, computers, and
information appliances, and identifies and designs innovative solutions,
including personal accessories, that advance universal access to and use of
information and control of one's environment.  

The Archimedes Project is committed to making information technology
available to all people, regardless of abilities, needs, preferences, and
culture. Research that was originally targeted for people with disabilities
is now being applied to helping aging people remain independent, and to make
computers easier to use and more productive for everyone.  

Neil will discuss some of the interesting research in progress and the
prospects for commercialization of some by Archimedes Access Research and
Technology International, Inc., a non-profit corporation founded to design,
develop, and test prototypes incorporating technologies originating from
Archimedes Project research.  

Notes by Tian Harter 

Neil Scott began his talk by showing us a picture of a guy in a wheel chair
with a head tracking apparatus attached to his head. Scott explained that JD
had been in a swimming accident when he was 16, and was paralyzed from the
neck down. The head tracker and voice recognition input made it easy enough
for the guy to use his Macintosh that he could navigate the user interface
more efficiently than most normal users. That was the kind of thing that the
Archimedes Project was trying to make possible. 

Scott then showed us how a good user interface could be used to clear up lots
of different kinds of input and feedback issues. He separated the system into
user input technology, interpretation of that, and output systems. Efforts
were focused on that kind of thing so that standard software packages could
be used by more people at relatively low incremental expense. 

User input has a lot of opportunities for clever technology. Switches that
are comfortable to use for people who can only use their eyebrows to click
buttons are quite a challenge, as are voice recognition systems, and machines
that track eyeball movement to position the cursor. The Archimedes Project
has done much work on such things, and it showed in the wonderful pictures
and stories that Scott told us. 

As far as possible, Scott prefers to have the input to the computer system
look like the standard keyboard and mouse that most users would use. Trying
to integrate more closely has the unfortunate side effect of causing a huge
pile of rework every time the software changes because Microsoft decided to
rearrange the menus, or whatever other things they do to cause users to need
to upgrade. He had harsh words about how "addressing bugs" in software was
becoming a cash cow to keep consumers on a constant upgrade treadmill. He
went so far as to say that we might all be better off if computers stopped
changing for twenty years. 

Output systems the Archimedes Project has come up with include an audio
output system for blind people that makes it possible for them to use a
computer to some extent. He also had a language independent animation signing
system that was originally developed to speak to deaf people, but might be
more widely useful. We all understood the brief movie he showed us, that
clearly meant "I'll be landing at 6:30 PM, please pick me up at the airport."  

In addition to working with desktop type computers, The Archimedes Project is
also doing work with embedded systems, so that people that can't use light
switches can say "light on" or "light off", and have the lights go up or out
as requested. This kind of work is aimed at making it possible for aging
populations to continue to live independently in their declining years, among
others. 

Scott finished his talk by explaining that The Archimedes Project was now
interested in working with others to commercialize the technology they have
developed over the last decade or so. He had just returned from a road trip
to Hawaii, New Zealand, and Japan to talk to people about the possibilities,
and any among us who are interested in such ventures should talk to him. 

Links:
http://archimedes.stanford.edu/
http://hci.stanford.edu/~fjames/testpages/
http://www.ncits.org/study/docs/ita99003.htm
