When a prototype of Vocal Joystick first entered the public domain two years ago, the team developing the unique hands-free control technology came to an agreement.

"We decided we weren't in this to make money; we were in this to work on this cool device," said Richard Wright, a UW department of linguistics faculty member and a major contributor to the Vocal Joystick project.

Vocal Joystick interprets users' vocal sounds into digital commands, allowing nuanced and continuous-motion control of digital or mechanical devices. It has many possible applications and great commercial potential, said Jeffery Bilmes, the UW associate professor of electrical engineering who spearheaded the development of Vocal Joystick.

Rather than being motivated by profits, Bilmes said the three primary purposes behind his technological brain-child are to advance technology, improve the lives of people with motor impairments and push the limits of human possibility.

Vocal Joystick may still be commercialized someday.

"We have plans to do that. Maybe," Bilmes said.

Allowing hands-free control of computer cursors and robotic arms and having the potential to control wheelchairs, Vocal Joystick might prove very useful for people with certain disabilities, said Drew Britten, the Assistive Technology/Alternative Media Program manager at the UW's Disability Resources for Students Office.

"It's exciting technology," Britten said. "I'm glad somebody here at the UW is behind it."

Britten said there is no "silver bullet" to meet the needs of people with disabilities, many of whom do not have the vocal control required to use Vocal Joystick.

"We need to have a whole collection of technologies that meet each individual person's needs," Britten said.

Bilmes specifically hopes Vocal Joystick will prove useful for soldiers who, because of advanced medical technology, are increasingly returning from war wounded.

"Thirty years ago, they would have been dead," Bilmes said.

Vocal Joystick could allow wounded soldiers with impaired motor functions but intact vocal tracts to create or edit digital images or use computer-aided design programs, Bilmes said.

"You can make a lot of money doing this," he said.

With such jobs, Bilmes believes many wounded soldiers would be better integrated back into society, have higher self-esteem and be less of an economic burden.

People who have developed carpel tunnel syndrome or arthritis could also benefit from Vocal Joystick, Wright said, being able to continue working without further injuring themselves.

As for pushing the limits of human possibility, Bilmes said Vocal Joystick might increase the efficiency and complexity of human-technology interaction when used in conjunction with hands-on control devices.

By spreading control responsibilities among more than one sense, Vocal Joystick could reduce the cognitive load required to do a certain task on a computer or other device and thus reduce fatigue, Bilmes said. Alternatively, it could allow users to do more with the same amount of cognitive output.

"[Vocal Joystick] users might be able to tax their brains at the same rate but be able to do more complex actions than is currently possible," Bilmes said.

[Reach contributing writer Jacob Olson at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]