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ACAT Release v1.50.0 (deprecated)
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@saiprasadb01 saiprasadb01 released this 05 Mar 04:47
· 54 commits to master since this release
v1.50.0
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Release v1.50.0 is deprecated. Please download v2.00.

Enhancements/Fixes in this release

  1. Support for dual monitors. Option to move the application window between the monitors and also to maximize the window in the other monitor. This option can be accessed through the Window menu in the Alphabet scanner. Please refer to the Managing Application Windows section in the ACAT User Guide.

    Note: If you have language packs installed, please uninstall them and install the new ones included in this release.

  2. Snapping a window using the Max / Snap option from the contextual menu for Notepad, MS Word and WordPad will dock the window to the alphabet scanner and freeze the window width. This is to prevent movement of text in the window due to word wrapping. This is controlled by a setting called SnapWindowDockAlphabetScanner. If enabled, the windows for these application will dock with the Alphabet scanner. The setting can be accessed through ACAT Config->Applications. Look for the SnapWindowDockAlphabetScanner parameter under MS Word Agent, Notepad Agent, and WordPad Agent.
  3. If a MS Word document downloaded from the Internet is opened, Word puts it in the protected mode with a button to Enable Editing. Added a config parameter AutoUnprotectWordDocs to automatically unprotect downloaded Word documents. The default value for this setting is false. The setting can be accessed through ACAT Config->Applications. Look for the AutoUnprotectWordDocs parameter under "MS Word Agent".
  4. Fixed a GDI resource leak related to contextual menus
  5. Pressing ESC in the exit confirmation dialogs of some of the Functional Agents would cause ACAT to freeze
  6. Changed the timer in WindowsOverlapWatchdog class from System.Forms.Timer to System.Timer

Documentation

All ACAT documentation and videos can be found here
Getting Started Guide
ACAT FAQ
User Guide
Developer's Guide

Videos

Prof. Stephen Hawking's Introduction to ACAT
ACAT Features Overview Video
Using Input Switches

Quick Installation Instructions

You must install the base English version ACAT before installing any of the ACAT Language packs. The Language packs are incremental installs over the base version.
Below are quick steps to install ACAT. For detailed install/uninstall instructions, refer to the ACAT User Guide .

The base English version:

  1. If you have a previous version of ACAT already installed, first exit the application. If ACAT Dashboard is running, close it. Uninstall ACAT by going to Control Panel -> "Uninstall a Program". Right click on "Assistive Context-Aware Toolkit (ACAT)" and select "Uninstall". When prompted to remove ACAT and all its contents, select "No" if you are upgrading from a previous version and you want to retain your user settings. Otherwise select "Yes", which will delete all the contents under the ACAT installation folder
  2. Save ACATSetup.exe (at the bottom of this section) on your computer. This is the default English version
  3. Run ACATSetup.exe. Accept all defaults in the installation wizard.
  4. When installation is complete, a shortcut to ACAT Dashboard will be created on the Desktop. The Dashboard has shortcuts to all the ACAT applications.

French Language Pack:

  1. First download and install the base English version before installing the language pack.
  2. If you have a previous version of the ACAT French Language Pack already installed, uninstall it. Go to Control Panel -> "Uninstall a Program". Right click on "Assistive Context-Aware Toolkit (ACAT) - French Language Pack" and select "Uninstall".
  3. Save ACATPack-French.exe (at the bottom of this section) on your computer.
  4. Run ACATPack-French.exe. Accept all defaults in the installation wizard. This will install the French language extensions. You must install this in same destination folder as the base English version. The default is C:\Intel\ACAT
  5. You can switch between languages either by selecting "Language" from the ACAT Config utility, or by selecting the "Language" option from the Main menu in ACAT App

Spanish Language Pack:

  1. First download and install the base English version before installing the language pack.
  2. If you have a previous version of the ACAT Spanish Language Pack already installed, uninstall it. Go to Control Panel -> "Uninstall a Program". Right click on "Assistive Context-Aware Toolkit (ACAT) - Spanish Language Pack" and select "Uninstall".
  3. Save ACATPack-Spanish.exe (at the bottom of this section) on your computer.
  4. Run ACATPack-Spanish.exe. Accept all defaults in the installation wizard. This will install the Spanish language extensions. You must install this in same destination folder as the base English version. The default is C:\Intel\ACAT
  5. You can switch between languages either by selecting "Language" from the ACAT Config utility, or by selecting the "Language" option from the Main menu in ACAT App

Portuguese Language Pack:

  1. First download and install the base English version before installing the language pack.
  2. Save ACATPack-Portuguese.exe (at the bottom of this section) on your computer.
  3. Run ACATPack-Portuguese.exe. Accept all defaults in the installation wizard. This will install the Spanish language extensions. You must install this in same destination folder as the base English version. The default is C:\Intel\ACAT
  4. You can switch between languages either by selecting "Language" from the ACAT Config utility, or by selecting the "Language" option from the Main menu in ACAT App

Extending ACAT to other languages

  1. Download ACATResources.en.resx at the bottom of this section
  2. Use a resource editor to translate strings. SimpleResx works quite well and it has built in support to translate strings into a number of languages.
  3. Generate the resource .RESX file in the target language.
  4. Email the translated resource .RESX file to Sai Prasad (sai.prasad@intel.com)
  5. Identify source material to create the word prediction database. The source should be free of copyright or other violations. Send us a link to the source.
  6. We will generate the word prediction database for the target language
  7. We will create the ACAT Language pack for the target language and upload it to github

Note:

  1. ACAT doesn’t include Prof. Stephen Hawking's voice for text-to-speech. It uses Microsoft’s Speech Synthesizer API and the default TTS voice on the target machine. (Refer to ACAT FAQ or to the ACAT User Guide on how to change the default voice). Developers can easily extend ACAT to support other speech engines.
  2. The UI look and feel is different from the one used by Prof. Stephen Hawking. Developers can create new UI's to support the needs of different users.
  3. ACAT Vision is not open-source yet. We plan to release it in upcoming releases

ACAT Vision

ACAT Vision which is the vision component of ACAT uses the webcam to track the user's face and to detect facial gestures (cheek twitch and/or eyebrow raise). The detected gestures are then used as triggers to actuate the UI. ACAT Vision supports cheek twitch and eyebrow raise gestures. Only cheek twitch is enabled by default. To use eyebrow raise, or to map gestures to ACAT command shortcuts, refer to either ACAT FAQ or to the "Configure Actuators" section in the ACAT User Guide.

If you have any issues or questions about ACAT Vision, please contact Lama Nachman (lama.nachman@intel.com)

Tips

  1. Make sure the face is positioned 1 to 2 feet away from the camera.
  2. During the calibration phase, try to keep as still as possible. Do not make any head or facial movements.
  3. Face detection works well in most lighting conditions but if the room is too dark or (artificial/sun) light is shining directly on the face then face detection will work quite as well. Make sure the face is reasonably illuminated.
  4. For gesture detection to work correctly, you must keep your head perfectly still and 1) move only your cheek muscle or your mouth for a cheek twitch gesture or 2) quickly raise and lower your eyebrow for an eyebrow raise gesture
  5. You can press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+W (in that order) at any time to hide or show the Vision window
  6. If the calibration is taking too long, you can force ACAT Vision to recalibrate. First make sure the ACAT Vision window is visible. Click on it to set focus and press the “R” key to reset face detection. This is useful if there was head movement and facial regions are no longer in the correct place

Using Off-the-shelf Switches

Go here for more details on switches

Off-the-shelf assistive switches can be also used to trigger ACAT. They usually work by sending a configurable keystroke to the computer whenever they are activated. To work with ACAT, they should be configured to send an F12 key press on activation. If they do not support the F12 key, refer to ACAT FAQ for instructions on how to change the default trigger key for ACAT. Some switches directly plug into the USB port of the host computer, and others plug into a switch box typically with a 3.5mm jack and the switch box plugs into the USB port of the host computer. If the switch box supports multiple switches, they can be individually mapped to different ACAT commands for richer multi-modal interactions. Refer to ACAT FAQ for details.

Here are a few recommendations for switch boxes.

  1. X-keys USB switch interface with six dual inputs
  2. Hitch 2.0 USB switch interface with five switch inputs
  3. ATEC USB switch interface with five inputs

Here are a few recommendations for off-the-shelf switches/buttons. They need to be plugged into one of the switch boxes listed above.

  1. A range of mechanical switches from Ablenet.
  2. Switches from Talk To Me Technologies
  3. Candy Corn Proximity Sensor, with an activation distance of 0.5-1.0 cm from the surface of the sensor
  4. Specs switch from Ablenet featuring a 1.4-in/3.5-cm activation surface that provides an auditory click and tactile feedback
  5. Honeybee Proximity Sensor, which senses the proximity of a hand, finger, head or nearly any object. Sensing range is adjustable from physical touch to proximity of 14 cm.
  6. A Bluetooth switch from Ablenet. This one doesn't need a switch box as it connects via Bluetooth. It can be configured to send an F12 key whenever the switch is activated. Has two switches. One of them can be used as the primary switch to trigger ACAT by mapping it to F12. The other switch can be mapped to one of the ACAT commands. Instructions to configure the switches can be found here.
  7. Foot pedal switch. This switch plugs directly into the USB port of the host computer and does not require a switch box.
  8. Imperium Sip And Puff switch which is activated with either a "sip" or "puff" of the lips with the included small mouth piece
  9. Chin switch which can be activated by movement of the head. It can be positioned anywhere around the neck with plastic tubing that can be cut to fit - just like a custom necklace
  10. A tube-shaped Grasp switch which can be activated with a squeeze or a pinch.
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