Contents Page

Investigation.......................................................................................................................................... 3

Analysis........................................................................................................................................................3What technology will I chose?.....................................................................................................................4How does this technology help others? What are its benefits?..................................................................4How do I use the program to create my product?.......................................................................................8Design Brief.................................................................................................................................................9Design Specification...................................................................................................................................10

Giulia Pedroni Interview........................................................................................................................14Luca Malerba Interview.........................................................................................................................15Ermete Grilli Interview..........................................................................................................................16

Evaluation of interviews............................................................................................................................17Evaluation of Sources of Information........................................................................................................17

Evaluation of Investigation Stage..........................................................................................................18Importance of testing............................................................................................................................19

Bibliography........................................................................................................................................ 20

VIDEOS...................................................................................................................................................20MAGAZINES...........................................................................................................................................20WEBSITES...............................................................................................................................................20INTERVIEWS...........................................................................................................................................21IMAGES..................................................................................................................................................21

Investigation

Analysis

Problem: Our aim is to answer the question “to what extent does our health depend on

technology?” The problem is how does technology affect us? What are the health issues that

can be solved by technology? Also we need to create a product that will manage to solve a

health disability and our problem.

The problem is important relating to my life because it helps me to become a mature person

and understand that many people in the world have different health problems. I think that also

creating a technological object can be a way to make these people not feel inferior. Working to

create a product is a fun and formative way to learn new thing, involving technology. Helping

disabled people can also be helpful because it will help me become more responsible and think

also about other people rather than myself.

The problem relates to my society because with the work of many we can make a health issue

stop. My aim is to create a product that will make a health problem stop. The question to

answer is very important because without it, people won’t know what to do or change the

world to make it a better place for you, for me and for the entire human race. Also because

every year in the world society there are people who feel inferior because of their problem,

hence, if we create a product that will make their problem stop, these people will live a happy

life.

The problem is relative to the A.O.I because it is health and social education, one of the most

important areas of interaction. Solving this problem is essential because it can give ME the

awareness on how many people suffer, when technology can make them happy. I am going to

solve it by helping the ones who need attention and make an interesting and simple product to

solve a health issue in the world.

The questions that I need to consider are:

1. What technology will I choose?

2. How does this technology help others?

3. What are its benefits?

4. How do I present this information?

5. How do I use the program to create my product?

6. What tools will I use to make my product?

7. How can my presentation be effective?

8. What will I include in my product?

To find out these questions I will research websites, books and other useful sources that can

help me answer them. I will also research on the software I will use and how to use it. I will

make questionnaires and interview people to gain knowledge on stuff I don’t know. One of the

most important questions to answer is number 2 because it will make my work clear, suitable

for this work, and presentable.

What technology will I chose?

I have chosen to promote the important technology of the Locked-in Syndrome wheel chair

because I think that this rare syndrome is nowadays growing more and more throughout the

population. This may be a terrible and unfortunate problem because the syndrome will affect

the person in many ways. Firstly, it will parylise all of the person’s muscles, except for the eyes.

This s a enormous problem. However, the wheel chair will have a computer that will allow to

the person who has been affected by it to talk normally. In a sense, the computer will talk and

act for him.

How does this technology help others? What are its benefits?

“Locked-in syndrome, or LIS for short, is a condition in which a patient is aware and awake but

cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles

in the body except for the eyes1”. There is also a version of the Locked-in Syndrome, called

1 www.wikipedia.com

Total locked-in syndrome. With this trauma the eyes are paralysed too. This term has been

coined by Fred Plum and Jerome Posner in 1966. The LIS is also known as ventral pontine

syndrome, de-efferented state, cerebromedullospinal disconnection and pseudocoma,

Unlike persistent vegetative state, where the upper parts of the brain aren’t working and the

lower parts are spared, locked-in syndrome is caused by damage to specific portions of the

lower brain and brainstem, without any sort of damage to the upper brain.

Possible causes of locked-in syndrome include:

• Traumatic brain injury

• Diseases of the circulatory system

• Overdose of medication

• Damage to some nerve cells, particularly permament damage of the myelin sheath

• A stroke or brain haemorrhage, usually of the basilar artery

• The Multiple Sclerosis

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease

Standard treatment and cure aren’t existing. Stimulation of muscle reflexes with electrodes

(NMES) is utilised to help patients regain some muscle function. Other courses of treatment are

often symptomatic. Assistive computer interface technologies, such as Dasher and with the eye

tracking, may be used to help patients communicate. “New direct brain interface mechanisms

may provide future treatments; one effort in 2002 allowed2” a locked-in patient ,who had a full

disease, to answer yes-or-no questions. Some scientists have reported that they have

developed a technique that allows locked-in patients to communicate by sniffing.

Extremely rarely cases of people regain motor control. The majority of locked-in syndrome

patients do not regain motor control, but many electrical devices are available to help patients

communicate. Within the first four months after its first operation, 90% of those with this

condition die. However, some people with the condition continue to live much longer, while in

2 www.wikipedia.com

exceptional cases, like that of Kerry Pink and Kate Allatt, a full spontaneous recovery may be

achieved.

“Dasher is an input method and computer accessibility tool which enables users to write

without using a keyboard, by entering text on a screen using a pointing device such as a mouse,

a touchpad, a touch screen, a roller ball, a joystick, a Push-button, a Wii Remote, or even mice

operated by the foot or head3”. Such instruments could serve as corrective devices for disabled

people who cannot use standard keyboards, or where the use of one is impractical.

Dasher is a free and open-source software. Its subject is to the requirements of the GNU

General Public License (GPL). Dasher is available for operating systems with GTK+ support; such

as Linux, BSDs and other Unix-like, Mac OS and Microsoft Windows, Pocket PC, iOS and

Android.

Dasher was invented by David J. C. MacKay and was developed by David Ward and by other

members of MacKay's Cambridge research group. The Dasher project is supported by the

Gatsby Charitable Foundation and by the EU aegis-project.

Whatever the person uses as a pointer, he/she selects a letter from ones displayed on a screen,

“whereupon the system uses a probabilistic predictive model to anticipate the likely character

combinations for the next piece of text, and accord these higher priority by displaying them

more prominently than less likely letter combinations4”. This saves the user effort and time as

they proceed to choose the next letter from those offered. The process of composing text in

this way has been likened to an arcade game, as users zoom through characters that fly across

the screen and select them in order to compose text. The system learns from experience which

letter combinations are the most popular, and changes its display protocol over time to reflect

this.

The Dasher package contains various independent data files, like:

• alphabet descriptions for over 150 languages

• letter colours settings

3 www.wikipedia.com4 www.wikipedia.com

• training files in all languages

How do I use the program to create my product?

1. Open iMovie'08.

To export a movie from your library, click on file and then import movies. After a few

seconds you will have your movie on your screen, you can now change how and what

you want it to be. For example, if you want to add music in the background of the video,

click on the button that represents a note (located under the box where the there is also

the play button.) Now, it will appear all the songs you have saved on iTunes. You just

have to drag the clip to the storyboard and then it is done. You also drag the music

directly from the desktop.

2. If you want to mute the sound of the clip just click on the volume icon, that appears on

the clip of your choice and raise or lower it as you like. The same is done with the audio;

you can decide how much it must be high or low.

3. Of course you can also insert a picture in the video. You can also write over your movie.

To write a title or other things, simply click on the T button (next to the button with the

note icon). Then, you can choose the size of the text font and the color.

4. Finally, you will have the possibility to upload the video directly on YouTube. How? It is

very easy. Go to "share" at the top of iMovie and click on "YouTube". You will see a page

asking for your password and username of YouTube. Once it is inserted, it will upload all

the movie

5. You can save, of course, the videos on your computer. Always go to "Sharing" and then

"Export Movie." After saving you will have your video saved on your computer.

Design Brief

My aim is to produce something, that more categorically is an effective and presentable

product that will allow the population, the disabled ones, everyone (children, adults, politicians,

cleaning ladies, shop keepers, grandparents, teachers, footballers etc.) about a specific accident

that happened to them and will give them the possibility to understand more about

categorically and specifically what does the technology do. I have decided that our final product

will to create a video that will inform people about the uses of the locked-in syndrome

wheelchair. I will be researching information about this product including when, why and where

it was created and what are its benefits.

The main aim, in fact, is to raise awareness of this dramatic syndrome, which has taken the life

of many people more or less in the past 80 years. It has to be attractive and extremely

informative so that it can persuade people to look at the video and learn more about the

problem. This will help me achieve good marks and adopt an important and significant position

in the outer community.

Unfortunately, there are many constrains I will have to deal with, and the most trouble-making

one is certainly time. However, there are many more which I will have to think about such as:

copyright, laws, what software to use, how to use the software correctly in order to create a

fabulous video, what to include in the video, which scene cuts fit perfectly together and which

don’t, which are easily suitable and which aren’t. This is why I have researched on the internet

and on books, as well as asked my parents about what makes a good videos, and which effects

go well together and are more attractive/effective. Furthermore, in order to deal with the main

problem: time, I will shortly be creating a Gantt chart which will help me plan my work in order

to achieve full marks for this project.

Design Specification

Animation shouldn’t distract the audience from watching the video

Scenes should be relevant to the video

It must not have an illegible font type (if writing is included).

It must not have an illegible font colour (if writing is included). The context mustn’t have any type of animation The background must not do any interference with the written text the text

The video mustn’t be too complicated

The content mustn’t have any form of inappropriate language

It must not be offensive

It must not include spelling mistakes

It must not include grammar mistakes

It must not be used to advertise something

It must not have subliminal messages

It must not have wrong information

It must not have an illegible font size (if writing is included).

Pictures mustn’t be enormous

All parts of video mustn’t have different sizes

Shots mustn’t be too big

The video mustn’t occupy a good part of the pixels, so the size should be minimum

The shots must not be too small

Sound effects must not occupy the entire video

The background shouldn’t distract the audience

It must respect the copyright law.

The size must be appropriate to read

It must be divided into sections

The information must be clear and simple to understand

It must have some images.

The images must be the appropriate size

It must be easy to listen

It must not be too long

It must be appropriate for a range of people (from young to mature)

The video must have the right size to be seen

It includes sound

It must include a title

It answers all the five W

The video must be clear and simple to understand

It has the right and appropriate information

It must be persuasive

The sound must be clear as well as the content of the video

It must be informative and interesting

The information must be longer than the acting

TEST TABLE YES NO WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO IMPROVE NEXT TIME?

Animation shouldn’t distract the audience from watching the video

Scenes should be relevant to the video

It must not have an illegible font type (if writing is included).

It must not have an illegible font colour (if writing is included).

The context mustn’t have any type of animation

The background must not do any interference with the written text the text

The video mustn’t be too complicated

The content mustn’t have any form of inappropriate language

It must not be offensive

It must not include spelling mistakesThe background shouldn’t distract the audience

It must not include grammar mistakes

It must not be used to advertise something

It must not have subliminal messages

It must not have wrong information

It must not have an illegible font size (if writing is included).

Pictures mustn’t be enormous

All parts of video mustn’t have different sizes

Shots mustn’t be too big

The video mustn’t occupy a good part of the pixels, so the size should be minimum

The shots must not be too small

Sound effects must not occupy the entire video

It must respect the copyright law.

The size must be appropriate to read

It must be divided into sections

The information must be clear and simple to understand

It must have some images.

The images must be the appropriate size

It must be easy to listen

It must not be too long

It must be appropriate for a range of people (from young to mature)

The video must have the right size to be seen

It includes sound

It must include a title

It answers all the five W

The video must be clear and simple to understand

It has the right and appropriate information

It must be persuasive

The sound must be clear as well as the content of the video

It must be informative and interesting

The information must be longer than the acting

Giulia Pedroni Interview

Interviewed person name: Giulia Pedroni

Age: 16

What makes a good video? I believe that more simple a video is, more information you will

obtain.

What important information should I mention? Certainly information about the LIS you told

me about. Also mention the benefits of the technological device that aids the problem.

How can I make it interesting and believable? Images that shock people, Shots that make

people understand what is your content. Too much information is boring

What can I do to make it interesting to every people? I think that the best way is to create one

video, that describes the benefits of dasher for different ages: for children, for adults, and for

teenagers.

What tips should I include? Very good actors, simple shots and some music in background.

What structure does my video need to have? Like before, shocking images

Given that I include all of the above specification and more in my poster how would you rate

the created product based on professionalism

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Extremely horrid

Horrid

Not admirable

Could have done a bit more

Average

Good

More than decent

Very well done

Magnificent

Perfect

Luca Malerba Interview

Interviewed person name: Luca Malerba

Age: 16

What do you find persuasive in a video? The information and the first impression you give at it

What important information should I mention? The syndrome and raise awareness about its

cure

What tips do I need to use in my video? I suggest an original backgrounds and clear examples

for your content

What materials are suitable for this project? Well, first a camera to do your work, but also

other things that will help you to create your video, maybe have good actors.

What images should I include? Image of the technology and people crying for their problem to

make it effective

What shapes should this type of video have? None

Should I include a symbol, which can be connoted to the content? I think so

Given that I include all of the above specification in my poster how would you rate the created

product based on professionalism

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Extremely horrid

Horrid Not admirable

Could have done a bit more

Average

Good More than decent

Very well done

Magnificent

Perfect

Ermete Grilli Interview

Interviewed person name: Ermete Grill

Age: 37

What do you find persuasive in a video? Pictures, many pictures related to the theme

What important information should I mention? The reason why you want to promote this

technology

What tips I need to use in my video? I think that a very important actor that will give you the

possibility to highlight your video and understand better your content

What materials will be suitable for my video? I believe that a professional camera is easy and

simple to create your video

What images should I include? Image of the technology that hill help people affected by LIS

What shapes should this type of video have? Maybe not

Should I include a symbol, which can be connoted to the content? It is the most important bit

Given that I include all of the above specification in my poster how would you rate the created

product based on professionalism

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Extremely horrid

Horrid Not admirable

Could have done a bit

Average

Good More than decent

Very well done

Magnificent

Perfect

Evaluation of interviews

Thanks to the above questionnaire I have understood in a more detailed way what should be

included in a video. In fact I have interviewed a variety of different people, starting from 14 and

moving up until 37 years. I did this so that I could then create a specific content for three range

groups: Children, Teenagers, and Adults. In this way my video would please each individual

person. Also I understood many things such as that I will need to include music in my video to

make the audience understand the theme. I also believe that images are important, and, if it is

possible to do, try to hire a very good actor to make my video credible. I also found out that it is

important that my content needs to be effective and strong. This questionnaire can be

considered a test plan as I have asked people different aspects that make a video outstanding.

When I’ll have designed and produced my video I will do another questionnaire based on the

created product.

Evaluation of Sources of Information

I decided to choose these sources because I thought they were the ones I could trust more in

the terms of biased/unbiased and true or false. This is especially for the internet resources

because I don’t know if they are reliable or not. So I decided to check maybe two different

websites and see if the information were the same. I relied mainly on the people I interviewed;

especially teachers and adults because they are more mature and know much more

information than I do. I also trusted An I.C.T. expert’s magazine because it cannot be wrong

since people who work and are experts of their profession wrote articles. I also watched some

journalist’s reports on the accident I decided to research, on YouTube. The newspaper is a

difficult source because it can be unbiased or biased, however, I made research on the authors

who wrote the articles to see if I can rely on them. The use of my sources is to gain knowledge.

Evaluation of Investigation Stage

The investigation section was really good and I liked how I formatted it. I believe that I

struggled to find some information for my questions, but with the help of people who I

interviewed and with many informative magazines, my investigation questions are all answered

and can be found in all formats. I could have included in more detail an interview with a

cameraman, however I have many information from people who know well this sector from the

other sources. I think I didn’t miss out anything or maybe just one question that however can

be answered in interviews or in the questionnaire. I think that my testing ideas are sufficient

because I will test it with a broad range of people, my-self, and other members from different

ranges of age. I think that I did enough research and I think I know what to do for the next parts

of my assessment. I also used four sources of information, including videos, books and

magazines etc. Maybe next time I can even do more research to improve my knowledge and

understanding on the LIS. For the sources of information I can’t think of others. In the next

performance for the next project I can be more accurate and specific and include more details

in my answers. My design specification and design briefs are regular, however I could include

more wishes in the design specification.

Importance of testing

Testing is very important because you will have a clear idea on how your product is and if it is

ready to be presented. One way to test your work is the test table. This allows you to have a

everything you have done in an organized way that shows really simply what was wrong and

what was good about your work. It is also useful because it test our product against the design

specification, which is practically what you need to include and use in your design. However, if

this testing type is very effective it is only based on the opinion of the one who created the

piece. There are other ways of testing your work.

One of this ways is to make a survey to people in the play to see if the video promotes the

technology in a proper way. With their point of view it is more accurate and more right due to

your own testing table. It also is an opinion of many people so it is better because it is more

open. Also a questionnaire is a good way to test your product because if you want to know

specific answers you can find the answers by asking people, especially experts. If they tell you a

certain thing that you need to change in your design, for your video, it is obvious that you will

do what experts say. This is a very good way of testing and after you tested your work, you can

change what went bad and make it presentable for the event.

Bibliography

VIDEOS

Sanford University. "The Locked in Syndrome: What is it? - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN2TIWomahQ>.

BBC. "LIS - Locked in Syndrome (Documentary) - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U454HFEdRMQ>.

Chaisson , Ryan. "Dasher technology benefits on people - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1eLHGblEww>.

MAGAZINES

Wilson, Mark. "Web main copy.(creating a video)." Computer Act!ve 5 Apr. 2007: 34. Print.

"Create a professional video for free.." Computer Act!ve 24 July 2008: 55. Print.

WEBSITES

"Locked-in Syndromel." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon

"Dasher." bp. N.p., 31 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle800.do?categoryId=9036575&contentId=7067541

"How to Create a Video - Free Tutorials On How to Make a Video." How to Create a Website - Free Tutorials On How to Make a Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <http://www.2createawebsites.com>.

"17 Tips on How to Use iMovie - wikiHow." wikiHow - How to do anything. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Website>.

"What Makes A Good Video?." HTML Goodies: The Ultimate HTML Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013. <http://www.htmlgoodies.com/introduction/intro/article.php/3473571/Why-Create-A-Website.htm>.

"Why make a video with iMovie? - Website development." Make a free website with doomby - the free website builder. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013.

<http://www.doomby.com/pages/help-to-make-a-website/why-make-a-website.html>.

INTERVIEWS

Malerba, Luca. Personal interview.

Pedroni, Giulia. Personal interview.

Grilli, Ermete. Personal interview.

IMAGES

http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/imovie/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57494905-10391704/u.k-court-denies-euthanasia-requests-from-two-men-with-locked-in-syndrome/

http://www.linkedin.com/company/dasher-technologies