Assistive tech giving speech impaired a voice

Sensors track eyes to make words

Akari Tanaka, 19, cannot move most of her body or speak due to a genetic disease causing her muscles to atrophy, but she can still communicate thanks to assistive technology.

Spinal muscular atrophy means Ms Tanaka spends most of her days lying in bed at home in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, in western Japan. She can only move her eyes, fingers and toes.

But in early May, she was able to communicate using the Skype internet phone service with Fumihito Ito of Shimane University, who called her from the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo’s Kodaira city during a lecture for people working at special schools for handicapped children.

Asked by Mr Ito how many professional baseball games she went to see at the Koshien stadium in Hyogo Prefecture the previous season, Ms Tanaka, who is a fan of the Hanshin Tigers, said, “I went to see five games last year and have got tickets for four this season.”

Ms Tanaka did not actually speak. What she did was focus her eyes for about one second each time on a letter from a hiragana chart shown on a computer display over her bed.

The computer has a sensor that can track a person’s eyes and creates a sentence combining all the letters, and then reads it out loud.

“It’s so much fun making my thoughts known to others,” she said. This way, Ms Tanaka now posts her comments on a social networking service site to communicate with her friends.

A switch control device used to be a major communication assistive tool, but eye tracking has increasingly drawn attention as sensors have become less costly.

“I even know a patient who wrote a whole book [using the technology],” said Mr Ito of Shimane University.

Satomi Homma, an official of the Japan Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association, said: “The more patients communicate, the greater hope and enthusiasm they will have for their lives.”

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

“What’s important is to raise awareness among caretakers that various non-verbal communication methods are available so they can propose using them,” she said.

Among other advanced technologies, NeuroSky Japan, the Japanese version of NeuroSky, a San Jose-based company developing sensors that track brain waves, pulses, and other biometric signals, has invented a new device that indicates changes in a person’s mental state.

“It may not signify exactly what the patient wants to say, but could be a suggestion that helps a caretaker understand about the patient’s needs,” said Sadao Masayoshi, director of NeuroSky Japan’s development division.

Caretakers for their part are also searching for their own ways to understand patients.

Yoshiaki Makino, 36, who works at a facility for people with disabilities in Tokyo, started last year communicating with one of its male residents who has a speech impairment by writing letters on his palm.

“I try hard to understand what he wants,” he said. “Our work tends to be simple routines, but I became more creative and compassionate when taking care of patients.”