Intel and SwiftKey (!) teamed up to speed up Stephen Hawking's communication system!
A great “mind” of the 21st century, the leading theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking , now has at his disposal an upgraded computer system that helps him communicate with the world and express his thoughts. What is remarkable? That Intel , which has been collaborating with the professor (who is known to suffer from motor neurone disease) since 1997 , has help in the renewed communication system he created, from SwiftKey , our well-known company from the word prediction system when typing text on our smartphones.
As Stephen Hawking 's illness now allows him to communicate by "recording" one word per minute with the help of the assistance system that Intel has created especially for him , this needed an upgrade. The original idea was to create a completely new system based on cutting-edge technologies such as eye tracking, something that the professor himself did not want, however, who has been using the same environment for decades. It is an interface with a cursor that moves on an on-screen keyboard, so that, by moving a muscle in his face, Hawking can select letters and form words.
Based on this data, the goal of the upgrade was to maintain the familiar Hawking, but the renewed system to be more intuitive and powerful. Swiftkey came to help in this part with its experience in the field of text prediction. The system that was created, after Intel reprogrammed the entire existing platform, is based on the SDK of alternative keyboards for Android and iPhone that SwiftKey has and can automatically complete a word that you start to write, thus dramatically reducing the number of clicks you need to complete it. Based on this and after months of testing, the renewed system was completed that the professor can now use for faster communication.
Intel even plans to make the system available online to the open source community, which will allow independent developers to further develop the platform so that it can help other people with similar support needs.
Source: digitallife.gr
