Researchers develop new way to navigate a computer without a mouse
Say "ahh" and the cursor zips toward the northeast corner of the computer screen. "Ooo" sends it shooting straight south. Want it to head southeast? Say "ohh." To make the cursor do a circle or figure 8, let vowel sounds bleed into one another, like eee into ahh into aww and so on. You can make it hurry or slow by regulating the volume of your voice. To open a link, make a soft clicking sound. So goes the University of Washington's "Vocal Joystick" software, which uses sounds to help people with disabilities use their computers...There are several options for people who need accommodations in using computers, but the UW software is distinguished on several levels. For one, it doesn't use standard voice-recognition technology. Instead, it detects basic sounds at about 100 times a second and harnesses them to generate fluid, adaptive cursor movement. Vocal-joystick researchers maintain the system is easier to use because it allows users to exploit a large set of sounds for both continuous and discrete movement and to make visual adjustments on the fly.
Click on http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008231288_btjoystick06.html for more information about the Vocal Joystick.