Joystick Takes Cues by Voice

Tracy Staedter, Discovery News

"I don't remember anyone else doing something like that before. And it's fairly accurate and fairly good," he said.

And when compared to other hands-free systems, the Vocal Joystick could have some advantages. For example, eye-tracking devices are not only costly, but require that the user control the cursor and read information at the same time.

And some devices work inside the user's mouth and are controlled by the tongue. But that prevents the person from talking or interacting with other people in the room.

"The biggest challenge," said Acero, "is that this is a new interface modality for the user. Will they be willing to use it? We need to see a product and run it through users."

But having options is a good thing. "I think it's great to have more than one [interface] and play around with it and see what the users like," he said.

Bilmes and his team have been testing the device since March with spinal-cord injury patients at the University of Washington Medical Center with good results.

This week the team presented the latest development of the Vocal Joystick at the Ninth International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility in Tempe, Ariz. There, he will demonstrate the device controlling a robotic arm.