People with Muscular Dystrophy (MD) and certain other muscular and nervous system disorders such as Cerebral Palsy (CP) and ALS often lose their gross motor control while retaining fine motor control. The result is that they frequently have difficulty operating a mouse and keyboard. However, they typically retain the use of their fingers, and can control a pencil or stylus, and thus can use a handheld computer such as a Palm. Even people with motor impairments who can use a normal keyboard often tire easily, so having a variety of input techniques that they can switch among may allow the use of computers for longer periods. This project will develop techniques to enable people with a wide range of motor impairments to use a handheld computer as an interface to computers. The PI will invent new input techniques for entering text and controlling a mouse pointer that are optimized for use by people with motor impairments. He will measure and refine the user interfaces and input techniques through extensive formal and informal user testing that will highlight the conditions and impairments for which each input technique will be useful. He will determine which parameters best characterize a motor impairment with respect to a user's performance with a stylus and handheld user interface. He will develop novel software that runs on a handheld device and can be used by therapists and researchers to measure the performance parameters of individuals with motor impairments, and to automatically adjust parameters and selection of input techniques. Particular techniques to be investigated for handheld text input include adaptive word prediction and word completion designed for people with muscular difficulties (in particular, the distance the user's fingers must travel to select a word should be minimized), and new interaction techniques for specifying characters by using the edges of a handheld's screen (preliminary investigations suggest that the raised edges that are already part of handhelds, or an additional overlay guide, can help people with certain muscular disabilities such as tremors or spasms enter text more accurately). New techniques for entering mouse locations will include software filters.
Broader Impacts: As a consequence of this research, some people with muscular impairments who could not use a computer will be able to, and many of those who could use one will be able to do so more effectively and for longer periods of time. Furthermore, the elderly commonly suffer from motor-limiting conditions like arthritis, and a handheld interface may be an attractive non-aggravating option for computer access. The improved evaluation tools to be developed as part of this project will make it easier for therapists to determine the right interaction techniques for each individual, which will help to optimize each person's effectiveness. The PI plans to collaborate with the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and others, to ensure that the tools and techniques developed as part of this research will be deployed for real use by many people who will benefit. The knowledge gained will be disseminated through the usual research channels, as well as through the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America (RESNA) and other forums used by therapists, so as to impact as large an audience as possible.
