1/14/02

To Whom It May Concern:

I am the Project Director and Head Technologist at the Rehabilitation EngineeringTechnology Project at San Francisco State University. As part of my job, I see a largenumber of people with physical disabilities, including those who must use headpointing for access to computers and augmentative communication devices. I amfamiliar with all the different head pointing products and, in my professionalopinion, Boost Technology's Tracer is the best option for many people. However, anumber of the people who could most benefit from this technology cannot affordsuch devices. That is why I am very glad to hear about the work being done byGiveTech. GiveTech will allow many of these people to benefit from one of thebetter technologies available.

In addition to being significantly less expensive than similarly-functioning products,it offers rock-steady control. (While there is a lower-cost product on the market, Ihave not found it to be either very reliable or steady.) Controlability andsteadiness--having the cursor go where you want it to and stay there--is essentialfor increasing accuracy, reducing fatigue, and making it possible to reduce the targetsize. Furthermore, since the Tracer is wireless and has built-in switch access formouse buttons, it eliminates the need to purchase additional expensive equipmentfor people who want to move about or change position.

My most recent candidate for the Tracer is a person with a spinal cord injury who ismoving away from mouthstick use after a number of years (he does have speechinput, but he's a beta tester of computer games and needs direct mouse and keyboardaccess). He tried the other head pointers and was quite impressed by the control hegot with the Tracer on a very small onscreen keyboard. He also needed wirelessmouse button control; for that I added sip/puff switches to the available jacks on thewireless Tracer transmitter that I mounted to the back of his wheelchair.

In my opinion, the Tracer can help many physically disabled people who needconsistent and accurate hands-free control of a computer. GiveTech's providingTracers to people who can't afford them has the potential to greatly improve theirquality of life.

Sincerely,

Ray Grott
Project Director and Head Technologist
Rehabilitation Engineering Technology Project
San Francisco State University