Empowering Voices: Pioneering ALS Technology with Hawking, Scott-Morgan and Beyond

IEEE ENCS Technical Talk by NVIDIA’s Thorsten Stremlau. All section officers, and the chairs of the chapters, affinities, committees and subsection are invited to attend. Other interested members and guests are welcome. Advance registration is required for food counts. Sooner is better for food planning. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU!!!! Meeting Schedule: 6:00 PM Food and Socializing 6:30 PM NVIDIA’s Thorsten Stremlau Tech Talk on ALS Technology 7:15 PM Q & A 7:30 PM Networking This is a hybrid event at NCSU in EB2 room 1231. Please register so that your participation can count toward Food and Regional attendance. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Presentation Abstract: The presentation provides an overview of technological advancements that help individuals with ALS – focusing on contributions that enhance communication and mobility. Initially, collaboration with Professor Stephen Hawking led to the adaptation of a cathode-ray tube speech synthesis device; later this was upgraded to an advanced ThinkPad laptop, which provided Stephen with a synthesized voice to communicate. Following Hawking’s death, Dr. Peter Scott-Morgan, also diagnosed with ALS, initiated a project that resulted in more innovations, including a circular eye-tracking optimized keyboard, generative AI for response generation, a digital avatar, an ear switch, and the Luci autonomous wheelchair. These developments are now coming together to allow patients with ALS to thrive. Thorsten will finish with ongoing and future Scott-Morgan Foundation (SMF) projects describing the case study of Erin, a 23-year-old ALS patient in California. He will highlight the critical role technological innovation plays in overcoming ALS-related communication and mobility barriers, highlighting the tangible impacts on patients’ lives as well as ongoing emerging technological advancements in the field. Speaker(s): Thorsten Stremlau Agenda: IEEE ENCS Speaker Event Agenda: 6:00 PM Food and Socializing 6:30 PM Empowering Voices: Pioneering ALS Technology by Thorsten Stremlau Room: 1231, Bldg: EB2, NCSU Engineering Building 2, 890 Oval Dr, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, 27695, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/407636