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The ABC’s of Vision and AAC

University & Research
RERC on Sensory aids at Smith-Kettlewell

The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute is located in San Francisco. The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) for Sensory Aids, funded by the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), is part of the Eye Research Institute. Among the projects they have worked on are:

• Research And Development. A focus is on developing devices for blind and deaf-blind children and adults:
  
  
• Tact Tell learning system. Utilizes interactive modular peripherals which connect to an Apple computer and speech synthesizer.
  
  
• Flexi-Formboard. Improves a child's skill with geometrical shapes through auditory and tactile feedback.
  
  
• Dexter (robotic hand system). Forms manual fingerspelling. Facilitates telephone communication, face-to-face communication and computer access.

Products to assist persons with low vision include new magnifier systems and illumination devices using fiber optics, metal halide and quartz halogen technologies for optimal viewing without unwanted heat and glare.

Products to address employment needs of persons with blindness include:

• Flexi-Meter. A computerized "universal" job instrumentation system and a new speech module for adapting measuring instruments.
  
  
• a computer access system using a touchpad to represent the computer screen and a speech synthesizer to speak the contents of the screen at that position.
  
  
• a pocket-sized electronic braille notetaker.
  
  
• a low-cost refreshable computer braille display.
  
  
• auditory instruments to facilitate the interconnection of computers and peripherals by blind operators.

• Information dissemination. The Smith-Kettlewell Technical File is a technical subscription magazine for the blind and visual impaired.
  
  
• Clinical Services. A collaborative arrangement with the California Pacific Medical Center's Low Vision Services allows the development of customized aids requested by individuals and/or their rehabilitation counselors, small scale production and sale of limiled-rnarket sensory aids, custom software and computer interfacing modifications, expert consultation on job site modifications and operation of an electronics training program for the blind. Finally, the RERC on sensory aids is developing and testing new assessment techniques, particularly for the early detection of vision disorders.
  
  

For additional information contact Smith-Kctllcwcll Eye Institute, 2232 Webster Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. (415) 561-1620.

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