Biomedical subjects

Edmund F LoPresti

Publications and source records attributed to Edmund F LoPresti.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Adaptive software for head-operated computer controls.

Head-operated computer controls provide an alternative means of computer access for people with disabilities who are unable to use a standard mouse. However, a person's disability may limit his or her neck movements as well as upper extremity movements. Software was developed which automatically adjusts the interface sensitivity to the needs of a particular user. This adaptive software was evaluated in two stages. First, 16 novice head-control users with spinal-cord injury or multiple sclerosis used head controls with and without the adaptive software. The adaptive software was associated with increased speed in standardized icon selection exercises (p < 0.05). A small increase in accuracy was also observed. In addition, five current head-control users evaluated the software in a real-world setting. One of these five subjects perceived an improvement in comparison to his current head-control system.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neck range of motion and use of computer head controls.

Head controls provide an alternative means of computer access. This study determined whether neck movement limitations are associated with reduced performance with such head controls. This study also identified features of the cursor movement path that could aid in assessing computer access limitations. Fifteen subjects without disabilities and ten subjects with disabilities received neck range of motion evaluations and performed computer exercises using head controls. Reduced neck range of motion was correlated with reduced accuracy (R2 = 93.5%) and speed (R2 = 79.5%) in icon selection. A model was developed with the use of cursor positioning time and number of velocity peaks to identify when a person was having difficulty with target acquisition (kappa = 0.81). Models such as this may allow head controls to adapt to a user's needs, accommodating difficulties resulting from neck range of motion limitations.

Adolescent↗