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Bed Access Reading Bot (B.A.R.B.): The Future of the Book

Bed Access Reading Bot (B.A.R.B.) Proposal: Eye-Tracking Reading Device for the Physically Handicapped

My aunt, Barbara, suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease—also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Due to this disease she has lost all motor function, meaning she is quadriplegic. Basic functions that many of us take for granted—such as: showering oneself, wiping one’s eyes, scratching one’s arm, and even talking—are not available to some people with ALS. For the most part, many of the bigger problems quadriplegics face have been circumvented. My aunt’s nurse-assistant, for example, bathes her, flips through the channels for her, feeds her, etc. As far as communicating, there are two main options for my aunt: alphabet boards and Augmentative/Alternative communication devices (AAC). These advancements solve many problems, but there are still many that need to be addressed.

Research shows that patients that suffer from ALS are also at risk of suffering from depression:

Patients reported high communicative abilities, comparable to caregivers, while   their supposition without the ETCS was significantly worse. (K. Linse, 259)

Lack of a social life and inability to participate in leisurely activities are the main causes of this depression in ALS-sufferers. Because of the physical aspect of ALS, it is easy to overlook the psychological impact. It took me, for instance, several visits to see my aunt Barbara before thinking: “How does she have fun?” and “How does she cope with not being able to do the things she used to do?” My aunt has always been an intelligent person; so seeing her not being able to put her mind to use is saddening for me.

B.A.R.B. is here to give back fun and some sense of autonomy to people like my aunt. Essentially, B.A.R.B. is an E-Reader that functions similarly to AAC devices that utilize eye-tracking technology. The purpose of B.A.R.B. is to allow quadriplegics to read without needing any assistance. Having watched my aunt and her nurse-assistant, I can say there are a lot of nuances that even nurse-assistants cannot solve easily. Think about everything it takes for you to read a book. As an able-bodied person you can stop reading when you want; you can dog-ear pages; you can take notes; you can reread pages, etc. Could you imagine doing these things without being able to move? Could you imagine how difficult it would be to tell your nurse to do these tasks for you if you are unable to talk? It would be impossible.

With B.A.R.B., healthcare providers and hospitals will be able to improve the mental wellbeing of their quadriplegic patients. Rather than just having TV to watch, patients will be able to entertain themselves and feed their minds with books of their choice. Healthcare providers and hospitals that implement B.A.R.B. early on will be attractive to customers and patients who have not been able to find such thoughtful and personalized technology elsewhere. Eventually, the goal is for healthcare providers and hospitals nationwide to take advantage of what B.A.R.B. has to offer. Being as though this technology eases the burden of nurse-assistants and gives patients autonomy, it is inevitable that B.A.R.B. will be everywhere.

As I stated earlier, B.A.R.B. is the synthesis of two already established technologies: the E-reader and AAC eye-tracking devices. E-readers were a temporary craze, yet they were fundamentally ahead of their time. The reason, I believe, E-readers lost their popularity was due to misreading the market. Avid readers, for the most part, have a hard time parting with their beloved books—the smell of them, the page turning, etc. Therefore, it was easy for traditional books to reclaim their throne from E-readers. But the E-reader’s features have potential to be the ideal product for the quadriplegic user once merged with hands-off and easy-to-use eye-tracking technology. Virtually all the E-reader’s features—such as: page turning, book marking, highlighting, note making, and word searching—will be in tact, yet rather than being accessible by touch, these features will be accessible through eye-movement.

After the initial installation of B.A.R.B. the user will go through a set-up process (choose language, font size, etc.) that will get them accustomed to the eye-gaze technology. The most crucial component of B.A.R.B. is the eye-reading camera that is mounted on top of the monitor. This camera reads eye movement and translates it into an action. Once the user is prompted by something on the screen they will have the option to stare at it—which the camera reads—until an hourglass icon turns over; once the hourglass is completely overturned the option is chosen. An example of this would be if the user were prompted with a “Yes” or “No” question. If the user wants to choose “Yes”, he/she will stare at the “Yes” option for 5 seconds (length of time for hourglass to turn).

Similarly, any action the user wants to take will be decided by a 5-second stare. The user will be able to access the menu option on the side of the screen this way as well. The menu will allow the user to choose/search another book or log out. Also on the side of the screen there will be an icon called “toolbox”, which will allow the user to make the actions listed earlier (highlight, word search, etc.). Neither the menu option nor the “toolbox” icons will obstruct the reading screen until they are chosen. Aside from the text itself the only icons that will stand out are the arrow buttons on either side of the text. These arrow buttons—which also function off the 5-second stare period (number of seconds can be changed)—allow the user to go forward or backward in the book.

Watch “Eyegaze communication in action”

B.A.R.B. will be available for healthcare providers, hospitals, and the loved ones of the user. Being as though our bigger markets will be the healthcare providers and hospitals, I have designed marketing campaigns specifically for them. For the healthcare campaign there will be a nationwide tour in which B.A.R.B. will visit research labs. These research lab events showcase the newest and most beneficial advancements in healthcare. The first reveal will be held at the Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD. Over the year, B.A.R.B. will attend several of these events, as labs are located in every state. At these events, healthcare representatives will be given a chance to test out B.A.R.B. They may find that despite being able-bodied, they might want B.A.R.B. for themselves! Near the end of the year, B.A.R.B. will be taken to the Healthcare Design expo in Orlando, FL. This annual event is the one I am most excited for, as it is the big daddy of all healthcare expos. Researchers, educators, nurses, and medical planners are among the many influencers who will get to experience B.A.R.B.

B.A.R.B.’s campaign to get into hospitals may prove a little more difficult as hospitals—like classrooms—do not seem to change much over time. However, I am confident that hospitals associated with higher education, such as Johns Hopkins University, will be more open to cutting-edge technology since they are tasked with preparing the world’s future doctors. Introducing B.A.R.B. to university-linked hospitals will be the first step in getting into every hospital into America, and hopefully the world.

So what’s the future of B.A.R.B.? I think text was the most logical start. After all, that technology already exists (E-readers) and simply had to be merged with eye-gaze technology in order to come alive. The next logical step is to introduce visuals—as in television and movies—which can run smoothly alongside the menu and tool features.

Works Cited

“About The Show.” hcdexpo. N.p., 2017. Web.

Beukelman, David R., and Pat Mirenda. Augmentative and Alternative Communication : Supporting Children and Adults with Complex Communication Needs, Fourth Edition. Fourth Edition. Brookes Publishing, 2013. Web.

Linse, K. et al. “EP 47. Direct Assessment of Psychosocial Measures Using Eye Tracking Technology in Advanced ALS – Can Preserved Autonomy and Psychological Wellbeing Modify Disease Course?” Clinical Neurophysiology 127.9 (2016): 258–259. Web.

ReviewLamp.com. All-New Kindle E-Reader Review – 8th Generation – 2016 Model. N.p., 2016. Film.

The PACE Centre. Eyegaze Communication in Action. N.p., 2009. Film.

“Welcome to AACFUNDINGHELP.COM.” SGD Funding Solutions from Assistive Technology Law Center. N.p., Nov. 2006. Web.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pitch: The Open-Tab OCR Smart Bookmarker

The Smart BookMark

Last week I was diagnosed with a serious digital condition. I found out I have what is known as “open tab syndrome” or OTS. With the recent spike in popularity of web browsers such as FireFox and GoogleChrome this condition is spreading rapidly. As college students, we form the most at risk demographic. Many of you, and many of your loved ones, may also be effected by this grave condition. The most common symptoms include a high rate of distraction, slow browser operation, absorption of trivial information and off-topic research. As of now, there is no cure. We can only hope to contain the symptoms.

It turns out I’m doubly at risk. Not only do I have open tab syndrome, I also recently contracted marginalias distractionmosis, a highly invasive infection that is spreading like wildfire throughout the Stevenson English department. I write and doodle all over books. I pause mid-page to look up terms or make notes relating to the text’s subject matter. I make promises to myself that I will remember to look up that obscure work, by some obscure author, mentioned obscurely in the assigned text…

But I never do.

I always forget to look up the cool information that I highlighted and made a careful note next to. Despite the highlighting and noting, as soon as the book is closed the reminders are meaningless. Book and computers inhabit two distinct planes of existence for most people. They exist in parallel universes. They’re so very close, but they never quite touch. Attempts at interdimensional travel to bridge this gap have been made. However, Kindles, eBooks and literature digitization are still in their early stages and have had limited success.

My pitch will hopefully provide a better solution. Using military grade nanotechnology, OCR software and the silhouette of your favorite animal, I’m here to propose the idea of a bookmark that would be able to scan text right off the page and send it to your computers browser, where it will open in a new tab. This way we will never ever forget to look up that cool topic the author referenced and we pinky-promised ourselves we would look up, as soon as we close the book.

Image result for animal bookmark+Image result for dslr=

A Bluetooth signal will send the information from the bookmark to either your smartphone or computer. A separate folder will be created on the receiving device and filled with the information of interest. We can then fall down the rabbit hole of open tabs on Google, Yahoo or Bing in a state of Zen, knowing everything we wanted to look up will be right there at our fingertips.

While this technology won’t cure open tab syndrome, it will make it far more manageable. By creating sub-folders in the browser, the software will help keep personal reading and homework separate. It’ll also ease user’s consciences, allowing readers to know that all their annotating wasn’t done in vain. All their notes were just saved for later use, able to be looked up at their earliest convenience.

*Terms and conditions may apply. You and your family should still be tested for open tab syndrome. Privacy policy is subject to change.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Research/Evidence:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing I found in my research pointed to the current existence of a device like this. One with my desired combination of both portable and accurate OCR, Bluetooth pairing, super long battery life and also paper-thin technology.

Kindles and other e-readers allow you to look up highlighted text, but these functions interrupt the flow of your reading and are not as conducive to use in providing outside research. I’m hoping for a more fluid design that will also work with those of us who still prefer physical books.

http://rightword.com.au/megatheriums/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Kindle_search.png

Other audio search functions like Siri and Google voice searching require you to talk, and don’t allow you to fluidly create a list of search terms to save for later use.

Image result for siri
http://cdn.bgr.com/2015/12/siri-iphone.jpg?quality=98&strip=all

With advances in OCR, nanotechnology and Bluetooth, I don’t think “smart bookmarks” will remain science fiction for long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(I will go back and provide proper citation for my visuals)

Animal Headed Bookmark URL:

www.ckcreatives.com.sg/images/images/felt_animal_bookmark_party_kit4.jpg

DSLR Lense URL:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Canon_EF-S_18-135mm_IS.JPG/220px-Canon_EF-S_18-135mm_IS.JPG

Meditating Man URL:

https://mindbodygreen-res.cloudinary.com/images/c_scale,w_770,q_80,f_auto,fl_lossy/crp/charlie-crop-feature2-850×400/meditation-help-calm-relaxed-healthy-happy.jpg

Letterpress Demo Reflection

I really enjoyed the letterpressing demo, it was a unique experience that I will probably never get again. Getting to work with and learn about how text used to be printed made me appreciate the methods we have today a lot more but it was really cool to make the sentences and utilize what we learned in typography to understand the placement of everything and also appreciate the way the text looked once printed. We even got the chance to learn what they used to do when letter would wear down, to some degree at least. I think one of the things I found most interesting was the simplicity of the mechanics of the press. Even though the press we used was not one of the first ever made, as we discussed the first ones made had the press come from above, I still expected some degree of difficulty. However, the press was pretty simple. There was only a minor difference between inking the machine and printing with it and that was done by a simple flip of a switch. Making the ink gradient was fun even though it only worked for about two presses before the inks mixed completely.

If I get the chance I would love to take the class just because I find things like this fascinating. Even though this is a skill that I will probably never use again I had a great time learning about it and taking in the experience. It really made me appreciate modern printing and the way that the invention of the printing press made books more widely available to the public rather than just keeping them just for those who could afford them or make them for themselves.

Creative Commons (2002-Present)

The beginning of Creative Commons is linked to Mickey Mouse (Geere). Just as the copyright for Mickey Mouse was about to expire, the U.S. government passed acts which extended the copyright. This happened like clockwork–during the 60s, 70s, and the 80s (Geere). In the 90s–1998 to be specific–the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was passed, which extended copyrights another 20 years (Geere). Enter Eric Eldred. Eldred, a business owner who ran a website that reprinted works with expired copyrights, was clearly in danger. With Sonny Bono in place, Eldred saw that he would not have any new works to reproduce for the next 20 years (Geere). He decided to bring his case to court (Geere). Armed with a group of professionals, including an MIT professor and a Harvard staff-member, Eldred argued that the act was unconstitutional (Geere). The court case, and further appeals (even up to the Federal Supreme Court level), was lost (Geere).

The group of professionals did not take this as defeat. They branded themselves Creative Commons and took matters into their own hands. The goal of Creative Commons was this: “The Creative Commons will provide a free set of tools to enable creators to share aspects of their copyrighted works with the public” (Geere). They made this known to the world with their 2002 press release, which also brilliantly said: “We stand on the shoulders of giants by revisiting, reusing, and transforming the ideas and works of our peers and predecessors” (Geere). Publicity was brought to Creative Commons because of its Supreme Court Case. Subsequently, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation donated $1,000,000 to Creative Commons which solidified the movement (Geere). By the next year, 2003, Creative Commons got access to one million works (Geere). As of 2011, Creative Commons has gained access to 350 million works (Geere).

The fight over the rights to one’s work spans back to year 561 in Ireland (Geere). Two saints, Columba and Finian, got into a feud over who had rights to the copies Columba made of Finian’s book (Geere). The feud was so intense that a battle was fought to determine who had copies’ rights (Geere). People died and Columba exiled himself from Ireland (Geere). In about a thousand years–with the invention of the printing press–printing companies had exclusive rights to whatever books it printed-rights neither public or even the author had (Geere)! The Statute of Anne act of 1709 remedied this issue (Geere). The act limited publishers’ rights to works to 14 years (Geere). As Duncan Geere puts it, The Statute of Anne “created the concept of a public domain for the first time, where the general public owns a creative work” (Geere).

Now, because of Creative Commons, art, science, and other forms of media are being made available for public use at an amazing rate. A new wave of creators are realizing there is more to be gained socially than financially by giving up their rights. This is happening all over the world, as Creative Commons intends.

This yields both good news and bad news. On one hand, more information is more accessible and more easily spread, which results in further remixing of works/information and more learning opportunities. However, as some photographers have noted, users can misinterpret or avoid the proper Creative Commons license on their works and use them for profit, without having permission. One photographer had this to say:

“The CC standard says that photographers should get credit, but I discovered that I was not being credited and that there were occasions when the photos were being ascribed to other photographers. On another occasion I found an all rights reserved copyright photo being used. It had been taken from Flickr. The photo was removed and the people who took it told me that they thought it was available for use, even though it was marked. There are people out there who think Flickr equals free to use.” (Scott).

Thus in a world that’s becoming Creative Commons friendly, it is still in the creator’s best interest to make sure their work is licensed correctly (Bert-Erboul).

Sources:

Bert-Erboul, Clément. “The Creative Commons . A third way between public domain and community? “, Sociological and Anthropological Research. 2015. online 21 April 2016. Web. Accessed 24 February 2017.

Geere, Duncan. “The history of Creative Commons.” WIRED UK. WIRED UK, 22 May 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Scott, Katie. “What does Creative Commons mean for photography?” WIRED UK. WIRED UK, 23 May 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Randell, John. Creative Commons logo, 3 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

 

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) – (1880s-Present)

Technology was booming in the 1880s. It was as though everybody and their mama had some new invention to usher in. Some inventions failed, some inventions succeeded. Several companies with successful inventions would go on to merge as one: Computing – Tabulating – Recording Company (C-T-R) (Chronological History of IBM). In four years–under Thomas J. Watson’s leadership– C-T-R would double its revenue (Chronological History of IBM). Moving into the 1920s, having experienced immense growth and undertaking new activities, C-T-R decided it had outgrown its name (Chronological History of IBM). Thus on Valentine’s day, 1924, C-T-R changed to International Business Machines Corporation (Chronological History of IBM). The reason for the name change was that the corporation was expanding globally: “During Watson’s first four years… expanded the company’s operations to Europe, South America, Asia and Australia” (Chronological History of IBM). IBM not only survived during the 1930s Great Depression, it thrived, becoming one of the first corporations to provide: group life insurance, survivor benefits, and paid vacation (Chronological History of IBM).

Moving into the 40s, IBM was vital to the U.S. war efforts (Chronological History of IBM). It manufactured over three dozen different types of weaponry and “establish[ed] a fund for widows and orphans of IBM war casualties” (Chronological History of IBM). In the second half of the 40s, IBM introduced the first machines “that could execute long computations automatically”–calculators (Chronological History of IBM).

It should be noted that IBM’s activities during WWII are controversial to this day. IBM technology was used by Nazis in the undertaking of the Holocaust (Ramasastry). For its alleged complicity in the genocide, IBM has been taken to court numerous times (Ramasastry). IBM denies aiding and abetting Nazis, saying “that by this time this occurred, the Nazis had already taken over Dehomag — so that IBM had no control over operations there, or over how Nazis used IBM machines” (Ramasastry). In 2001, IBM donated $3 million to a German Holocaust Fund, making it clear however that it does not admit liability (Ramasastry).

The 50s saw IBM’s creation of the first computers, used for “business applications such as billing, payroll and inventory control”–basic functions modern computers (Chronological History of IBM). IBM further changed the game in 1959, by introducing “random access”, which “could retrieve data stored on any of the 50 spinning disks” without having to painstakingly go through each piece of data (Chronological History of IBM). Further success was gained in the 60s–IBM made more revenue by offering hardware individually, as opposed to just in bundles (Chronological History of IBM). Secondly, computers were made to be faster and capable of storing more (Chronological History of IBM).

Floppy disks, Consumer Transaction Facilities (predecessors of ATMs), and supermarket checkout stations were introduced in the 70s (Chronological History of IBM). IBM became a part of daily life in the 80s with the creation of the IBM Personal Computer, which was compact enough for the home, small business, or school (Chronological History of IBM).

In the 90s, IBM faced and overcame two technological revolutions: the PC revolution and the client/server revolution (Chronological History of IBM). IBM, which had had “long-standing customer relationships” with clients such as the U.S. military, was forced to adapt to millions of customers–everyday folks who purchased PCs (Chronological History of IBM). Another issue with having millions of customers was that they demanded to be linked to the IBM servers–large computers “that served data and applications” (Chronological History of IBM). These problems were addressed by streamlining IBM’s operations (Chronological History of IBM).

Nothing has slowed down for IBM. Since the 2000s, IBM has won numerous awards for technological innovations and has acquired more patents (8,088) than any other company (24 Years of IBM Patent Leadership) .

C-T-R, later IBM, was born out of the government’s need to find an effective way to take a census (Chronological History of IBM). When several companies stepped up to the plate to solve the census problem, they realized consolidation rather than competition was the best way to advance technology and earn revenue (Chronological History of IBM). As arguably the most prolific company of all time, IBM still tries to outdo itself to this day. For example, in the near future IBM’s Chef Watson app, which invents new recipes (Cooking with Chef Watson, I.B.M.’s Artificial-Intelligence App), may save us all from our mundane cooking habits.

IBM’s revolutionary business practices can be recognized in companies across every field. Apple, for example, with its employee benefits, forward-thinkingness, product diversification, and customer service (Chronological History of IBM) is a mirror image of the foundation IBM has laid. IBM was one of the first companies to taut its internationality, thus inspiring others to do the same. Further, IBM technology is ubiquitous. If you’ve ever played with Nintendo Wii, you’ve played with something thats been made possible by IBM (IBM’s 45nm SOI microprocessors at core of Nintendo Wii U).

Sources:

“1889” – “2008”. IBM Archives: 1889-2008. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

“24 Years of IBM Patent Leadership.” IBM Press room RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Kleeman, Alexandra. “Cooking with Chef Watson, I.B.M.’s Artificial-Intelligence App.” The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2016. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Leung, Isaac. “IBM’s 45nm SOI microprocessors at core of Nintendo Wii U”. Electronicsnews.com, 8 June 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Pugh, Emerson W. Building IBM : Shaping an Industry and Its Technology. The MIT Press, 1995. History of Computing. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Ramasastry, Anita. “A Swiss court allows Gypsies’ Holocaust lawsuit to proceed.” CNN. Cable News Network, 8 July 2004. Web. 25 Feb. 2017.

Viscovery. IBM Partner World, 9 Mar. 2015. Web. 23 Feb 2017.