A better keyboard

Communication is an ongoing challenge for many non-verbal people on the autism spectrum. The traditional method of communication, the classic letterboard, as reliable as it is, is also slow, tedious, and just...not very fun! Project Letterboard strives to address this challenge by designing a simple, intuitive, digital alternative that leverages the full potential of IR technology and AI to provide a faster, easier, and more carefree mode of communication that functions even for those with substantial motor difficulties.

The Idea

The basic intuition behind our digital letterboard model is that we want to minimize the time normally spent by a human caretaker manually validating or confirming that each individual letter typed is correct and writing the desired letter down on paper. Using a combination of infrared sensors, cameras, and computer vision algorithms, we can automate the detection process. The user simply has to make a pointing gesture and hover their finger over the desired letter, hold it for a set delay time customizable by the user, and the letter will be automatically saved to the device or a keyboard document.

Unlocking AI for predictive text

Further adding to the efficiency of communication, through our companion software, Letterboard++, we are able to provide text prediction and autocomplete features to further minimize the time needed to reliable communicate a desired message. Signing on a letterboard is hard enough as it is. Why struggle if you don't have to?