IMAGINE CUP UOA PROPOSAL TEMPLATE 2010

PROPOSAL DUE 22 September 2010 To Submit your proposal:

Register at imagine.auckland.ac.nz; and email your

submission to imagine@auckland.ac.nz

APPLICATION NAME:

[name here] – giving the control back to those lacking it

TEAM NAME

Team Liberty

TEAM MEMBERS (NAME & SCHOOL)

Member 1: Member 2: Member 3: Member 4:

Full Name: Dmitry Selitskiy Mark Williams Konstantin Selitskiy Ravi Gokal

AUID: 4068993 4681762 1762349 4292215

Phone Contact: 021 0598239 021 714300 021 1528743 021 2154778

Email: d.selitskiy@gmail.co mwil362@aucklandu k.selitskiy@gmail.co ravi.gokal@gmail.com

m ni.ac.nz m

Major/Degree: InfoSys/BCom(Hons) InfoSys/BCom(Hons) MIntBus OpsMgt/BCom(Hons)

PROBLEM

There are many people in the world that either through injuries, accidents or even from
birth lost their abilities to live life, as we know it. Those affected the most by conditions like
cerebral palsy (CP) do not have an ability to care for themselves, move freely and or even
communicate. However, a lot of them maintain full mental capacity. Unfortunately, they
struggle to utilize it. So they make do with their daily lives as is. Imagine if you needed
someone every time you wanted to turn on the light or make the room a little cooler in
summer.

SOLUTION

‘Liberator’ is a hardware-software solution that gives people lacking mobility back control
of their lives and reduces the amount of aid they require in routine daily tasks through use
of brain-computer interface and intelligent home systems.

USER SCENARIOS

Scenario 1: Sam is 8 years old and he has had a cerebral palsy condition since he was
born and he cannot move about or talk. He is in his room on a sunny summer day. It is
rather warm and the birds are singing outside. Currently he cannot open his curtains to
see them or turn on the air conditioning without the aid of his caregiver. However, now he
is wearing a headset which reads the electrical pulses generated by his brain. He
imagines an object move in front of him from right to left and the curtains open. He then
imagines an object moving down and the AC unit turns on to cool the room down, all
without the aid of his caregiver.
Scenario 2: Claire is 16. She lost her arms in an accident a few years ago. She loves when
her friends come over and show her new things on YouTube. Unfortunately, they can’t
always come over and keep Claire entertained. Imagine Claire now has a headset that
on top of reading signals from her brain also has a gyroscope built in that registers the
slightest movements of her head. She activates a web browser with her voice and then
uses her head to move the cursor about the screen. She then either uses her voice or a
mental command to click on the link to watch that all the YouTube videos she likes.

DISCUSS IMPACT OF SOLUTION ON COMMUNITY/ COMPETITIVE SOLUTIONS

 We focus on developing applications that connect affordable brain-computer

interfaces (like Emotive EPOC) with everyday electronic and offline tasks leaving
the “brain reading” to the experts in the field
 Our solutions allow the end users to gain back their confidence and control over
their lives reducing while reducing their dependence on others
 It brings technology to those who cannot take advantage of current voice
recognitions (like Sam) while taking steps beyond current voice recognition systems
 The spread of these solutions will reduce the tremendous strain on governments
economies by reducing the cost of ongoing care and potentially allowing some
end users the ability to re-enter the workforce.
Given the affordability of the latest brain-computer interfaces like Emotive EPOC we
believe that these solutions aren’t dreams anymore and we can deliver them to all in
need.

DISCUSS BUSINESS VIABILITY OF APPLICATION

We believe that our solutions can be supported as non-for-profit venture. We will seek
support from both the government and the non-governmental organizations interested in
improving the lives of people with disabilities while reducing the cost of the care.

There is a market for this solution that cannot be ignored. Approximately 7,000 people in
New Zealand have some degree of cerebral palsy (one third are under 21 years of age).
A study estimated the cost for people with CP in the US at $921,000 per person. These
people will be helped and those costs can be reduced.

We plan to follow the rapid development principles through delivering modular

components that are responsible for individual objects, devices or applications such as:
house lights, motorized curtains and blinds, motorized doors and locks, software
applications for browsing and communication. Modules’ development will be prioritized
based on the existing research findings on highest needs and highest costs in this area.

We will be looking into partnership with Emotive or another vendor to achieve

commercial, research and social benefits.

CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW

TECHNOLOGIES/RESOURCES USED IN THE APPLICATION

Emotiv EPOC

Microsoft .Net 4.0

Microsoft Windows 7

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

Visual C#

SQL Server