Voice, The Controller of the Future

Computer controllers (and controllers in general) have evolved quite a lot over the past few years, as they've managed to keep themselves in the first line of technological development. And it would seem that voice might be the next big hit in this field, as a scientist from Washington University has come up with a very interesting approach to this field, namely the Vocal Joystick.

Thus, according to an article by Hannah Hickey for the University of Washington News, the Vocal Joystick detects sounds 100 times a second and instantaneously turns that sound into movement on the screen. Different vowel sounds dictate the direction: "ah," "ee," "aw" and "oo" and other sounds move the cursor in one of eight directions. Users can transition smoothly from one vowel to another and louder sounds make the cursor move faster. The sounds "k" and "ch" simulate clicking and releasing the mouse buttons.

"There are many people who have perfect use of their voice who don't have use of their hands and arms," said Jeffrey Bilmes, a UW associate professor of electrical engineering, quoted by the Hickey. "I think there are several reasons why Vocal Joystick might be a better approach, or at least a viable alternative, to brain-computer interfaces."

Another important feature of the Vocal Joystick is represented by its versatility and ease of use. Thus, the device requires only a microphone, a computer with a standard sound card and a user who can produce vocal sounds.

The developer of the Vocal Joystick system is looking forward for people to adopt on a larger scale this system over time, especially since his research is not yet over. Thus, it would seem that the system will incorporate more advanced controls that use more aspects of the human voice, such as repeated vocalizations, vibrato, degree of nasality and trills.

"While people use their voices to communicate with just words and phrases," Bilmes added, "the human voice is an incredibly flexible instrument, and can do so much more."

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