My'deas, LLC Presents: A Novel Mouth-Operated Input Device

Naturalistic human-computer interfacing meets AI and IoT— helping the disabled, hanging off the edge of technological advancement, climb Employment Mountain

The new workforce dynamic resulting from technology-driven transformations of work has generated a whirlwind of movement and anxiety among workers.  In the midst of this chaos is a group rarely mentioned and highly under-served in the past and the present -- individuals with disabilities. With low employment rates to begin with, it might surprise many to learn that the technology-shift in the workplace has actually had a negative effect on the disabled community. As counter-intuitive as it might seem, the lack of proper interactive mediums to bridge the gap between humans with disabilities and machines leaves such users with no ability to take advantage of modern devices, rendering technology nothing more than untapped potential.

From 2009 to 2018, the employment rates for the disabled and for the able-bodied have both increased: The disabled employment rate increased from 19.2% to 20.1% while the able-bodied employment rate increased from 64.5% to 68.6%. The fact that employment for the disabled community is significantly lower, while unfortunate, is not very surprising. What is staggering over this decade of technological advancement is that this huge employment gap has widened further -- with an employment jump four times larger for the able bodied than the disabled. Restricted to begin with, these individuals with disabilities are even further hampered in the workplace by the physical inability to interact with new technologies, resulting in the displacement of such workers. Our mission is twofold: We seek to stop the displacement of those workers who, quite literally, cannot interact with the necessary technologies for their jobs, and we also look to give individuals with disabilities who never thought they could work a job the courage and tools to live that dream.

Our solution is a novel mouth-operated input device that serves as a seamless, hands-free connection between human and machine. This device is even designed to suit those with the most severe disabilities. The mechanism provides axial controls as well as clicking and gesture functionality. Our product is paired with our unique digital platform to provide access to a multitude of technologies, connecting users to their surrounding network. The interface was designed to allow users to self-regulate the device and program, fostering independence for a group previously completely reliant on assistance. The combination of these tools enable users with disabilities to fully participate, and thrive, in the modern workforce.

We are upskilling individuals with disabilities, a population of workers that are inherently disenfranchised and low-income in society today, by providing them with the means and tools, previously unavailable to them, to succeed and thrive in the workforce. Our platform, inclusive by design, is meant to provide stability to this population of freelance workers. As of today, there is a stigma surrounding individuals with disabilities suggesting they are not capable of performing as well as their able-bodied counterparts.  Our mission is to not only eliminate that narrative, but to excite change such that everyone has equal access, and thus ample opportunity, tomorrow -- both in perception and reality.

The solution is both a unique technological advancement over existing assistive input devices, as well as a platform that opens up new applications in this category. It incorporates optical and physical buttons in an optimized configuration to enable smoother, less strenuous transitions between control methods. The main innovation, however, lies in its versatility. Modular by design, our product has a user-friendly interface and integrated platform allowing individuals with disabilities to easily configure settings and alternate control of multiple devices, accommodating a wide variety of user needs. Additionally, with AI, it will aide in overcoming each individual’s learning curve with technology.

Technology is deeply rooted in our solution on multiple levels. At the core of our solution is IoT connectivity and the ever-advancing artificial intelligence. The premise of technological growth is grounded on utilizing and advancing existing technologies. Our model is a manifestation of the problems and limitations in standard sip-and-puff input devices, and our modular platform exists for the purpose of connecting to other technology innovations, both present and future. To that end, our solution feeds into a future with a plethora of “smart” cities, where our device can serve to connect individuals with disabilities to the community at large.

Our company has identified three key goals for the next year. The first is to launch our minimum viable product (MVP) in September 2018. We will be collecting information from a network of users to engage with their experiences, identify pain-points, and inform our artificial intelligence algorithms for the next iteration. Our second goal is to augment our device with these necessary modifications and secure additional funding for technical advancements, a marketing campaign focused on nonprofits and government entities, and a social media campaign to reach users. Our final goal is to launch an AI-integrated, feedback-based iteration.

We will adjust the form factor of our interactive technology to a head-mounted system with alternative axial controls consisting of both hands-free and head-free motions. These modifications can broaden our base, with the potential to assist able-bodied users in computer-based work (i.e. upskilling mechanics to use AR/VR lenses with ease while making repairs). Additionally, throughout the progression of our product, and with all anticipated future modifications, material cost has been a planned consideration. As we advance into a stage of mass production, we will drive down the cost to sufficiently reach those with a low socioeconomic status.

We will employ a variant of the “disruptive” go-to-market strategy, displacing archaic sip-and-puff technology and reaching, both directly and indirectly, a population poorly served by those competitors. Initially, our primary customers will be nonprofits and government entities, from whom we have prior commitments. They receive government funding solely for assistive technology allocation; thus, we are leveraging existing distribution channels with an established customer base while maintaining control over the product. After establishing our brand, we will further expand our direct-to-customer sales force through social media campaigns and online retail distribution. Upgrades and add-on features will be periodically available for customers.

Our product is still in pre-launch. We’ve deployed it to a subset of our user base for the primary purpose of testing functional aspects of our design and generating the aforementioned optimized position of our optical and physical buttons. Users across the Boston Chapter of United Spinal, Easter Seals, and the Seven Hills Foundation have beta tested our software and hardware systems, providing feedback on usability, design constraints, use cases and technical features. In doing so, each individual is putting their own mark on our product, helping us develop an interactive device that will better serve them all.

We project a disabled population of 5.2 million people in the US to ultimately benefit from this solution. Within the first year, we will be targeting the approximate 500,000 unemployed (job hunting) individuals with disabilities who are actively searching for a solution like ours to help them gain technological access/training within months for opportunities in the workforce within three years. Seeing the remarkable effects our solution has provided Adriana (CEO) over the last year in leading this venture, we concur with our bevy of happy beta testers: this solution will enable users equal access to job opportunities.

Our close-knit, diverse team combines Sloan business strategy with MIT and Tufts engineering expertise. Adriana, founder and CEO, is a quadriplegic due to Cerebral Palsy and has been a pioneer and inspiration to our customer base, serving as an advocate for people with disabilities. Our team features past and present employees within MIT’s Media Lab and Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab, with extensive experience in product design, human-computer interfacing techniques, and wearable technology. Through active networking in education, jobs, hackathons, mentoring programs, task forces and assistive technology events, our team members have built a great cast of complementary relations.

Sales forces active in trade shows and conferences will sell to other businesses (nonprofits/government entities); Simultaneously, we’ll sell directly to users through social media and online marketing techniques. We project the latter stream to increase after sufficient growth enables our product line to enter mass production, significantly reducing costs while enabling better margins. Additionally, aggregated user data (e.g. muscular interactions with devices) can be sold to medical professionals and AT innovators. We have also garnered interest from the military and intelligent manufacturing companies regarding integration into AR/VR headsets, and plan to pursue this larger market to help subsidize our venture.

Given our aforementioned disruptive strategy entails maintaining control of product sales and expanding into an online distribution platform, we will manage our inventory from a single distribution point to match sales and demand, ensuring an efficient and sustainable sales cycle. Globally speaking, our product is tailored towards the present and the future: an interfacing platform designed for compatibility with cutting edge technologies and futuristic smart homes/cities. Further, in updated models, our device will accommodate able-bodied users in certain workforce segments. Additional expansion options include partnering with mobile device companies/providers and licensing our technology to wheelchair manufacturers.

We are applying to MIT’s Solve to enter an initiative with an impact-driven, forward-thinking and open-minded approach. Having launched our company from an MIT hackathon, our team understands that Solve is nested in a culture and community that has the vision and expertise to see a future in which disabilities are not a limitation. Building a support system and gaining recognition within this framework fosters greater ideation, collaboration and feedback regarding our products, and provides a great potential towards enhancing our brand’s marketing capability.

Finances are certainly a major barrier: as with many companies, the employee payroll is our largest expenditure. While we have sustained ourselves through grants and competitions, we cannot currently afford hiring many full-time team members; critical pieces to our puzzle, such as individuals specialized in embedded systems and data acquisition & analysis, are fairly non-existent. Another rather unique issue we face in our industry stems from the discrediting of women-led, engineering-based endeavours by the general public. Solve is the perfect medium to address these concerns: a means of funding and validating our venture, with the backing of an inclusive community.