In The Year 2015…
by Jeni Mundl
Assistive Technology is revolutionizing rehabilitation and the way
services are provided in the areas of: computers, environmental controls,
biotechnology, biomedicine, and robotics. Bill Gates revolutionized
the assistive technology industry when he built his multi-million
dollar home to include what are now known in the disability community
as EADLs or Electronic Aids of Daily Living. These aids are allowing
people to be more independent and live with less assistance thus
lowering the cost and need of PCAs.
Robotics will play a definite role in changing the life of a disabled
person:
• A robotic personal
care attendant with the ability to perform basic cares such as
feeding, cleaning, monitoring, and eventually having the capability
to perform dressing and range of motion.
• Guide dogs become robotic.Currently guide dogs are retired
every 7 years. The cost and training of new guide dogs is thousands
of dollars. A robotic dog could work similar to a GPS system giving
the blind individual instructions through movement and speech output.
A person would type where they wanted to visit in a building or city
which the robotic dog would decipher and lead them to the location.
• Robotics are incorporated into prosthesis’s with new engineering
and material such as the Smart fluid weighing less than 10 pounds and
providing smooth and natural movements. The prosthesis will have micro
chips which react instantaneously similar to a normal muscle.
• Robotic body part replacements— there are thousands on
donor transplant lists. People would welcome this opportunity and rejection
of it may be less . . .
• Wheelchairs become more high tech allowing those with disabilities
to reach areas never opened to them before. All terrains are accessible
including sand, mountains, and stairs.
By 2015, the disability community will have a much easier time with
communications because:
• Microsoft continues
to incorporate advanced assistive technologies to their operating
system. For instance it is forecasted that there will be an equivalent
product in the next two years to the JAWS screen reading program.
This will assist in reducing the cost of assistive technology and
what it takes to accommodate a computer. JAWS is a program that
is about $900. In the future, this particular feature may be built
right into the operating system. Already, we are seeing software
such as StickeyKeys for single key typing, a magnifier, a simple
voice input system included in the Windows environment. A Macintosh
has similar products available but the company is not as invested
in developing built-in accommodations.
• The cost of adaptations continues to decline. We now see this
very evident with the voice recognition product. If we look at 15 years
ago, the program started at $10,000. Today a good voice recognition
system such as Dragon Naturally Speaking is available for $167 and
is sold in the common market. You can purchase it at a local computer
store, a “Best Buy,” or on-line. It is no longer available
only through vendors that deal with assistive technology.
• The programming and usage of the assistive technology products
becomes more intuitive. You no longer need to be a programmer to understand
the terminology, the steps, the branches and procedures necessary in
changing something such as an On-screen keyboard. It becomes what is
known as a GUI (a graphical user interface) which is already beginning
to happen but will continue to happen.
• One important development for users of communication devices
is the devices all become computerized. There are products available
such as the Mercury with the Windows Operating system and communication
software on a tablet computer. The trend will continue plus the voice
output is becoming more human sounding.
• Many people continue to rely on verbalization even when their
speech is impaired. Devices for speech clarification will become more
useable and possibly allow those with indistinguishable speech to start
relying on vocalization rather than communication devices. The individual
will speak into a microphone where a computerized circuit will digitize
the words to create an understandable version of what was spoken.
By the year 2015, the
disabled individual’s world will look
different as technology continues to inundate every aspect of their
life.
