Thanks to those who responded to my previous msgs. Info. below
is from respondents' comments & my own research. I haven't actually
*tried out* any of these products yet. The product development and widest
availability is in the PC world. I'm considering abandoning the Sun world
in favor of a PC platform so that I can take advantage of
what's available now and what may be coming in the future.
Nancy Dawson
nad@ncar.ucar.edu
303-497-1291
National Center for Atmospheric Research
SCD/Documentation
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000
_____________________________________________________________
Sun workstation, voice recognition software and ergonomic keyboards,
Summary as of Dec. 5, 1994
Prices and capabilities change. Call company for details.
Product reviews (usually of older versions of these products)
and related articles avail. in online archives listed at end of this msgs.
____________________________________________________________
VOICE RECOGNITION--Large vocab. systems
Both must run on IBM compatibles (486, w/ minimum of 33 Mherz),
then use free a2x software to translate into the Sun world.
(The a2x software is from anon. ftp to:
ftp.csua.berkeley.edu
directory is pub/typing-injury/software)
Ask Co. who is local rep to get a product demo.
Both products have satisfied users who responded to my
initial mailing.
1) DragonDictate
Dragon Systems, Inc
320 Nevada St.
Newton, MA 02160
800-825-5897
617-527-0372
30,000 words $995
60,000 $1995
2) Kurzweil Voice for Windows
Kurzweil Applied Intelligence Inc.
411 Waverly Oaks Road
Waltham, MA 02154
(800) 238-6423
(617) 893-5151
30,000 or 60,000 wds, $995, either one
______________________________________________________________
VOICE RECOGNITION--Small vocab. systems
1) DragonDictate
(see above for contact info.)
5,000 words $695
Only IBM compatible, then use a2x software
2) In3 Voice Command
Command Corp. Inc.
3675 Crestwood Pkwy.
Duluth, GA 30136
(404) 813-8030
Recognizes commands; doesn't take dictation.
SPARCstation version: Solaris 1.x or 2.x, OpenWindows 3.x
$495 +$195 for mic (headset or desk boom model)
[I ran a demo of this under XMotif and it worked fine.]
PC version: 386 or higher, Windows 3.1
$?? [cheaper, I think]
Satisfied user responded to my mailing.
3) SayIt!
Qualix Group, Inc.
1900 S. Norfolk Street
San Mateo, CA USA 94403
(415) 572-0200
(800) 245-8649
FAX: (415) 572-1300
Recognizes commands; doesn't take dictation.
Sun OS 4.1.1 or later, OpenWindows 3 or later
[I tried to run a demo of this under XMotif; it didn't work.
The demo did work under OpenWindows.]
$195 + mic cost
[Through various mailings and lists, I couldn't find anyone
who was using this product.]
______________________________________________________________
ERGONOMIC KEYBOARDS
Most are developed for PC-compatibles, priced at
$100-$800.
Different kybds have groups of users who "love it." Which
keybd is right for which type injury/ which person is
anyone's guess. Most come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Sun users do use some of these with an interface box and possibly
a different driver. See the various "keyboards"
articles in the archives listed at the end of this
posting for more info. (There are pictures of many of
these on the WWW site listed at the end.)
> 1. Kinesis Corp.(206-402-8100)
>
> Kinesis sells Ergonomic keybd for $390 and a Sun Interface box
> for $149. A kit containing keybd and interface box sells for $490.
> This is a split keyboard with a fixed position and without the
> flexibility of tilt or rotational adjustments . Sun Interface box
> allows you to plug the keyboard to any Sun Workstation.
>
2. Comfort Keyboard 414 536-2160
Divided into 3 parts: 2 for the QWERTY sections, and
1 for the numeric keypad. Flexibility to adjust tilt and slope.
Co. says they are in "beta testing" for the Sun
version.
> 3.Lexmark ,Lexington, KY(1-800-438-2468) has IBM compatible keybd
> named Select Ease Keyboard(PN 1404600).Retail price is $179 and is
> available from major computer stores or directly from Lexmark . It
> has infinite adjustability features for the user including palm
> rest. The spacebar is divided in two to provide user the convenience
> of "Backspace" function in either half or none.
4. Maltron, a British Co., avail. through Applied Learning at 215-688-6866
> This is a split keyboard with a fixed position and without the
> flexibility of tilt or rotational adjustments.
5. KeyTronic(509-928-8000) sells IBM compatible PC keyboard called
> Flex Pro which has flexibility to separate QWERTY section as well
> as flexibility to adjust tilt and slope.
>
>
6. Microsoft recently announced Ergonomic keybd for $99 Retail. It
> is a split keyboard without tilt or slope adjustability. A long
> foot in the front allows you to have negative tilt. It is IBM PC
> compatible interface.
>
From Ashok Desai, Input Device Technology, Sun: "No matter
which keybd you select, you need the Sun interface box in
order to use it with Sun WS. The Kinesis Interface Box for Sun WS
should work with any IBM PS2 Compatible keyboard,mouse or trackball."
____________________________________________________
MORE PRODUCTS
1) Trackball: The only one I found for Suns is the
ITAC MOUSE-TRAK PRO MDL, for $199. SUNEXPRESS,
800-873-7869. It DOES NOT have a drag-lock feature,
something people w/ wrist/hand/finger/arm damage
want. Drag-lock allows highlighting or scrolling
without having to hold the button down the whole
time.
2) Foot pedals. Kinesis (listed under keyboards)
sells one for use w/ their keybd. Also, if you are in
the PC world:
STEP on it! 3 foot-operated pedals that can be
easily set to common keys, such as ALT, CONTROL,
SHIFT, or key combinations.$99. From Bilbo
innovations, at 800-203-0092; e-mail: sbb@bilbo.boy.com
_______________________________________________________
OTHER RESOURCES
1) RSI Network Newsletter: a very good online newsletter.
Frequent product reviews.
If you subscribe, you'll get the latest issue
mailed to you, along w/ list of contents of past
issues. The RSI Network Newsletter uses a moderated list, and it
is for distribution only. You cannot post messages to the list.
Getting On the List: subscribing
Send a mail message to:
majordomo@world.std.com
The Subject doesn't matter. Put this into the body
of your message just as it appears here:
subscribe rsi
Finding Back Issues: Gopher, FTP, WWW, & Archives
The Newsletter is available on commercial online services like
CompuServe, ZiffNet, America Online, eWorld, GEnie, and AppleLink.
It is on some user group BBSes.
See any issue of the Newsletter for info.
>From the Internet --
_Gopher_:
* sjuvm.stjohns.edu (Disability and Rehabilitation
Resources:Repetitive Strain Injury:RSINET)
* world.std.com (FTP:The World's Anonymous FTP Archive:pub:rsi)
_FTP_:
* ftp.std.com (pub/rsi) contains hqx and text files
_RSI_Network_Newsletter_Archives_ on The World:
Macintosh & PC-formatted-text Newsletters and support
files, including Mac and Windows Easy View, are there.
* sumex-aim.stanford.edu (info-mac/digest/rsi-network-news.hqx)
* ftp.csua.berkeley.edu (pub/typing-injury/rsi-network/issue*.Z)
_csua_'s copies are ASCII text compressed using a Unix
utilility. StuffIt Deluxe can decode the files on the Mac.
If you don't know what ".Z" is, get back issues elsewhere.
_WAIS_:
* RSInetwork.src (search directory-of-servers.src for "RSI")
_World-Wide Web_:
* http://www.wais.com/wais-dbs/RSInetwork.html
2) GREAT archive of articles, many product reviews. Get the
README file for article descriptions.
* ftp.csua.berkeley.edu
directory is pub/typing-injury
_csua_'s copies are ASCII text compressed using a Unix
utilility. StuffIt Deluxe can decode the files on the Mac.
World Wide Web (Mosaic) version available:
http://alumni.caltech.edu/~dank/typing-archive.html
software: same location, in the software directory.
Things various users have written to make their work
less painful.
3) A pretty good book by a dr. and a journalist w/
wrist damage: "Repetitive Strain Injury," Emil
Pascelleri, Deborah Quilter, Wiley & sons, 1994.
$14.95. Good chapters on modifying typing styles and
upper body exercises. No product info.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Fri Sep 28 2001 - 23:09:17 CDT