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A friggin' thing for $7,895.00?!

I like the Idea. For the simple reason that if it were truly open it could be used for other purposes. Like alternative communications devices for the speech impaired (i.e. autistic, cerebral palsy, kids, with motor speech problems).

Currently the only thing available to my knowledge is the Prentkey Romich tablets at about $6,000 US a pop.

It would be nice to be able to have the ability to develop an open source low cost alternative. Something with maybe only one button besides the screen. For people that cannot afford these devices for one reason or the other.

Prentke Romich Company ( http://www.prentrom.com/ ) has been doing this for a long time. They are nice people, but it'll cost ya! Don't know if you can rent/lease but I know they offer some units for demo.

It's too bad some product, like from http://www.prentrom.com/, aren't readily available to all hospitals. Maybe they do, as they're not cheap, but very useful with someone with a permanent condition.

I've been skimming this thread and I didn't see many replies from other users with disabilities. I also use a type of headmouse because of a neuromuscular disability. I've had this type of setup since I was 16 (I'm 31 now and work as an attorney). I've always been a gamer and I tend to gravitate towards games that don't require twitch reflexes. I'm a big RPG fan and most of these are mouse-driven. Check out some of the classics like Baldur's Gate or Planescape. Planescape is especially brilliant. A more recent game I really enjoyed was Freedom Force, a rpg/strategy game that is also mouse-driven. Does your headmouse allow you to hook up separate switches for the left and right mouse buttons? These switches work really well if you have limited movement.

If you do play games that require a few keyboard commands, check out Game Commander. It allows you to program voice commands for games. It has a pretty customizable interface and you can even program macros.

If you have an on-screen keyboard, you can always go old-skool with text adventures from Infocom.

Stop by my blog if you have other questions. I've seen other disability-related questions posted on /. and the quality of the responses tends to run the gamut from troll to somewhat helpful. I hope other users with disabilities will see this and offer more ideas.

I've been skimming this thread and I didn't see many replies from other users with disabilities. I also use a type of headmouse because of a neuromuscular disability. I've had this type of setup since I was 16 (I'm 31 now and work as an attorney). I've always been a gamer and I tend to gravitate towards games that don't require twitch reflexes. I'm a big RPG fan and most of these are mouse-driven. Check out some of the classics like Baldur's Gate or Planescape. Planescape is especially brilliant. A more recent game I really enjoyed was Freedom Force, a rpg/strategy game that is also mouse-driven. Does your headmouse allow you to hook up separate switches for the left and right mouse buttons? These switches work really well if you have limited movement.

If you do play games that require a few keyboard commands, check out Game Commander. It allows you to program voice commands for games. It has a pretty customizable interface and you can even program macros.

If you have an on-screen keyboard, you can always go old-skool with text adventures from Infocom.

Stop by my blog if you have other questions. I've seen other disability-related questions posted on /. and the quality of the responses tends to run the gamut from troll to somewhat helpful. I hope other users with disabilities will see this and offer more ideas.

Their web site is http://www.prentrom.com/ and they claim to be able to help with funding.

shameless plug: Prentke Romich makes dedicated speech output devices. Pre-stored words and messages can be stored and retrieved efficiently. Call the 800 number and they will put you in contact with a local speech-language pathologist (also a company rep) who can help you choose the correct technology and device. /shameless plug

Here at work we monitor progress of and/or use the following:

DECTalk (One of the most widely used)
Eloquent (http://www.eloq.com - dead URL?) (fairly natural-sounding with dialects)
Elan (European languages)

They've all been improving over the years.