This paper describes the experience of the first author with the Point-and-Click Interface of the OnScreenDualScribe, created by the last author. The new interface is an innovative extension to the previous interface which required the use of the DualPad. The main differences between the two interfaces are highlighted. The user took several writing tests with the Point-and Click Interface and compares her results with two of interfaces she uses the most for writing, Dragon NaturallySpeaking and SofType. Finally, the first author recommends several improvements to the interface which would make the software a better alternative for her.

This paper describes a study examining the usability of OnScreenDualScribe (OSDS), a tool to support individuals with physical disabilities with text entry and cursor movement. A portable numeric keypad is used to interact with the OSDS, which can either be held by the user, or can be affixed to a surface for interaction. A study to determine the feasibility of the system was conducted with three individuals with physical disabilities. While it was noted that the time taken was higher to complete a task compared to their existing methods of computer-based input, findings also indicate that the system offers potential for tasks involving a combination of text entry and cursor movement (e.g., completing online forms). Furthermore, as the keypad is smaller in size compared with a traditional keyboard, participants suggested that it offered potential to reduce effort spent in the fatiguing process of traversal.

This demo actually showcases not one but four different text entry methods for persons with very severe physical disabilities. All four rely on the same kind of input signals: tiny contractions of the brow muscle which are captured using electromechanical coupling. The input device involves a piezoelectric element which is attached to the user's forehead and kept in place with the help of an elastic sports headband. The switch-like signals are used in combination with the HaMCoS system - which allows to fully emulate a two-button mouse - and various auxiliary applications to enter text. This proposal talks about the input hardware in more detail and describes the text entry ideas shown in the demo.

This demo is about OSDS, a very powerful tool allowing computer users who cannot use a standard keyboard to replace that with a compact number-pad-like device, the so-called DualPad. The idea is to offer efficient text entry despite the smaller number of keys. The tool basically implements two input methods: One involving the selection of row and column of a character in a two-dimensional virtual keyboard and the other one using an ambiguous keyboard with dictionary-based disambiguation. A special focus is on its applicability to "real-world" use.

This paper describes the experiences of the first author, who has been diagnosed with the neuromuscular disease Friedreich's Ataxia more than 25 years ago, with the innovative approach to human-computer interaction characterized by the software tool OnScreenDualScribe. Originally developed by (and for!) the first author, the tool replaces the standard input devices -- i.e., keyboard and mouse -- with a small numerical keypad, making optimal use of his abilities. The paper attempts to illustrate some of the difficulties the first author usually has to face when operating a computer, due to considerable motor problems. It will be shown what he tried in the past, and why OnScreenDualScribe, offering various assistive techniques -- including word prediction, an ambiguous keyboard, and stepwise pointing operations -- is indeed a viable alternative. The ultimate goal is to help not only one single person, but to make the system -- which does not accelerate entry very much, but clearly reduces the required effort -- available to anyone with similar conditions.

This is to propose a demo and poster about a tool designed to assist persons who are temporarily or permanently unable to reliably operate the buttons of a physical pointing device, for example because of tenosynovitis (TSV). It monitors a dedicated muscle of the user and emulates a click event at the current position of the mouse pointer in response to a contraction of that muscle (as small as raising the eyebrow). The ClickType (= type of the click) - left, right, single, double, drag - is selected by the user (who is also responsible for moving the mouse pointer) and stays valid until the selection of a new one.

This paper proposes a poster about an alternative text entry method, based on a commercially available game controller as input device, as well as a demo of the accompanying software application. The system was originally intended for a particular gentleman with the neuromuscular disease Friedreich's Ataxia (FA), who asked us to help him - by developing an optimal keyboard replacement for him - already several years ago. Our work focused on his impressions in an initial case study testing this newest attempt. Taking the tester's comments into account, the outcome seems to be rather promising in meeting his needs, and it appears very probable that the system could be of help for anyone with a similar condition.

This paper introduces a text entry application for users with physical disabilities who cannot utilize a manual keyboard. The system allows the user to enter text hands-free, with the help of "Non-verbal Vocal Input" (e.g., humming or whistling). To keep the number of input sounds small, an ambiguous keyboard is used. As the user makes a sequence of sounds, each representing a subset of the alphabet, the program searches for matches in a dictionary. As a model for the system, the scanning-based application QANTI was redesigned and adapted to accept the alternative input signals. The usability of the software was investigated in an international longitudinal study done at locations in the Czech Republic, Germany, and the United States. Eight test users were recruited from the target community. The users differed in the level of speech impairment. Three users did not complete the study due to the severity of their impairment. By the end of the experiment, the users were able to enter text at rates between 10 and 15 characters per minute.

3dScan is a scanning-based software system allowing its user to interact with the immediate environment by intentionally contracting a single muscle of choice as input signals. The system is targeted at persons with severe physical impairments with the objective to improve its users' quality of life by empowering them to independently perform certain activities of daily life (ADL), e.g., to open the door by activating a suitable switch or to control the TV remote. The required input signals can, for example, be produced by merely raising the eyebrow ('frowning') and thus demand only a minimum of physical effort. A recent design change in 3dScan's data acquisition component made it possible to add telephony functionality to the list of supported ADL's. The proposed poster describes the 3dScan's telephone module which now is already in a revised and mature state. The usability of the newest version of the module was tested in two evaluations, where the second one involved participants belonging to the target population, and the results are presented in the poster

The design and evaluation of a scanning ambiguous keyboard (SAK) is presented. SAK combines the most demanding requirement of a scanning keyboard—input using one key or switch—with the most appealing feature of an ambiguous keyboard—one key press per letter. The optimal design requires just 1.713 scan steps per character for English text entry. In a provisional evaluation, 12 able-bodied participants each entered 5 blocks of text with the scanning interval decreasing from 1100 ms initially to 700 ms at the end. The average text entry rate in the 5 th block was 5.11 wpm with 99% accuracy. One participant performed an additional five blocks of trials and reached an average speed of 9.28 wpm on the 10 th block. Afterwards, the usefulness of the approach for persons with severe physical disabilities was shown in a case study with a software implementation of the idea explicitly adapted for that target community.

This proposal is about a poster dealing with a scanning-based software system, which aims at giving persons with severe motor impairments a means to interact with their immediate environment by issuing tiny contractions of an arbitrary muscle. The implementation makes use of an extension of row-column scanning, called three-dimensional scanning, which reduces the time required to select a certain item by eliminating the need to scan long rows or columns. A simple experiment comparing the resulting text entry capabilities to conventional row-column scanning shows that the entry rate can be increased by over 30 %.

This proposal is about a brain-controlled electrically powered wheelchair. The system comprises a brain-computer interface based on steady-state visual evoked potentials and a processing unit relying on a finite state machine (FSM). Results of first simulation experiments comparing two different FSMs are presented.

The HAnds-free Mouse COntrol System HaMCoS is a software kit designed for persons with severe physical disabilities, allowing its users to fully operate a PC using intentional contractions of a single dedicated muscle only. The system's theoretical concept has originally been developed for a wheelchair control system, a revised and enhanced version of which -comprising a stand-alone realization plus a software-based simulator - has been introduced just recently. Since it is very likely that someone who needs the kind of assistance offered by HaMCoS is also obliged to use a wheelchair, the idea to interface the simulator with the computer tool really suggested itself. This demo presents the outcome of that idea. It will be shown how both systems work individually and how they interact with each other.

This paper deals with PC-based alternative (i.e., keyboardfree) text entry and the issues related to emulating keystrokes with only a limited number of input signals. The previously introduced HaMCoS tool tries to enable someone who cannot use the hands to enter text almost as fast as someone exclusively using a manual mouse. To achieve this rather ambitious goal, HaMCoS provides two different (but combinable) solutions. On the one hand, word completion is offered as a shortcut technique. On the other hand, in addition to a mere on-screen keyboard, a completely new application has been implemented where selecting characters is somehow similar to entering Morse code (but with four 'bits' instead of dots and dashes only). In order to show the effect of these measures, the times needed to copy a moderately long text in various circumstances are reported.

A demo of a biosignal interface, which allows to operate a Windows® PC without using the hands, shall be given. The system -- called HaMCoS (for Hands-free Mouse Control System) -- enables its user to simulate clicks and movements of the computer mouse by issuing intentional contractions of a single muscle of choice only. Therefore, by employing HaMCoS, even a person with very severe physical disabilities can operate a PC, provided everything exclusively relies on mouse input. The framework built around the system's Main Module is optimized in this respect, since it offers a comfortable keyboard-free user interface (e.g. comprising large, easily clickable buttons).

A system allowing to control an electrically powered wheelchair without using the hands is introduced. HaWCoS -- the "Hands-free" Wheelchair Control System -- relies upon muscle contractions as input signals. The working principle is as follows. The constant stream of EMG signals associated with any arbitrary muscle of the wheelchair driver is monitored and reduced to a stream of contraction events. The reduced stream affects an internal program state which is translated into appropriate commands understood by the wheelchair electronics. The feasibility of the proposed approach is illustrated by a prototypical implementation for a state-of-the-art wheelchair. Operating a HaWCoS-wheelchair requires extremely little effort, which makes the system suitable even for people suffering from very severe physical disabilities.