Optimizing Assisted Communication Devices for Children With Motor Impairments Using a Model of Information Rate and Channel Capacity

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Cerebral Palsy

In brief

For children who depend on devices to communicate, the rate of communication is a primary determinant of success. For children with motor impairments, the rate of communication may be limited by inability to contact buttons or cells rapidly or accurately. It is therefore essential to know how to adjust the device interface in order to maximize each child's rate of communication. The optimal rate of communication is determined by the Channel Capacity, which is the maximum value of the Information Rate for all possible keyboard button or cell layouts for the communication device. We construct a mathematical model for the information rate based on the relationship between movement time and the number of buttons per screen, the size of the buttons, and the length of a sequence of buttons that must be pressed to communicate each word in the vocabulary. We measure the parameters of the model using a custom-programmed touch-screen interface.

Key facts

Study ID
NCT00352326
Run by
University of Southern California
People needed
29
Starts
2006-01-01
Expected to finish
2014-12-01
Last updated by the study team
2017-05-19

Who can join

Age: 5 and older, up to 25. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

Where it is running

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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