Vocal Joystick: Computer For The Handicapped

It’s sad to think that those without the use of their hands and fingers have very limited access to a computer and the internet. With computer technology becoming more and more of a norm in the workplace, people with these kind of disabilities have an extreme handicap in the workforce. Thanks to research being conducted at the University of Washington; they’re working to help eliminate this handicap with the use of vocal technology.

The technology is called, “Vocal Joystick”. Just like the name implies, this allows someone to control a mouse pointer with vocal commands. Vocal Joystick uses sounds in vowels to decipher what direction the mouse should follow, with another vowel sound used for a button press.

Here is the objective of Vocal Joystick, as told from their website:

“The goal of this project is to develop a novel system that we call the Vocal Joystick (VJ). This device will enable individuals with motor impairments to use vocal parameters to control objects on a computer screen (buttons, sliders, etc.) and ultimately electro-mechanical instruments (e.g., robotic arms, wireless home automation devices).”

You might be asking can this technology even work? And if so, just how fluid can it be? Here is a video showing off Microsoft Paint using Vocal Joystick. There’s also a magnificent picture of Mt. Fuji featured at Cnet, here.