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COMING EVENTS

Closing The Gap 28th Annual Conference - October 21 - 23, 2010 - Minneapolis, MN - Booth #227

The 28th Annual Conference runs Tuesday, October 19th through Saturday, October 23rd in Minneapolis, MN. Preconference workshops are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, October 19th and 20th and the Conference officially begins with a preview of the exhibits on Wednesday evening, followed by three days of presentations, hands-on labs and exhibitions. Exceptional learning opportunities all week!

ATIA 2010 Chicago - October 27 - 30, 2010 - Schaumburg (Chicago), IL - Booth #513, 515

The Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) is a leading association dedicated to education related to Assistive Technology. ATIA's educational programs include webinars, conferences and leadership events on accessibility. ATIA educational offerings are designed to provide the latest information on AT products, services and best practises from leading regional, national and international presenters. ATIA believes its educational programs further increase awareness of the innovative assistive technologies and services that enhance learning, working, and independence for people with disabilities.

Plan to join us at our booth and at one of our sessions!

NEWS

Amsterdam - 31 August 2009 - Product Updates for Snow Leopard

Amsterdam - 31 August 2009 - AssistiveWare today announced the release of updates for its KeyStrokes®, Proloquo®, SwitchXS®, LayoutKitchen® and GhostReader™ products for full Snow Leopard compatibility. With these free updates Mac users with physical, speech and language disabilities can now enjoy the pleasures of Apple's new Snow Leopard operating system.

The updates resolve various bigger and smaller compatibility issues with Snow Leopard and all current users are strongly recommended to upgrade to the new versions before installing Mac OS X 10.6.

KeyStrokes 4.1.1 provides a fully-functional virtual keyboard with multilingual word prediction and dwelling for people with physical disabilities.

SwitchXS 2.5.1 is a single or multiple switch-based computer access and communication solution providing full emulation of mouse and keyboard for use with any standard Mac OS X application. Also supports switch accessible communication panels.

Proloquo 2.0.2 is a multilingual speech and communciation solution for Mac OS X enabling people who cannot speak to user their computer as an AAC device. Not to be confused with the Proloquo2Go product, which turns an iPhone or iPod touch into full-featured communication solution for people who have difficulty speaking.

LayoutKitchen 2.1.2 is a keyboard, speech panel and scan panel editor for KeyStrokes, Proloquo and SwitchXS.

GhostReader 1.6.5 is an easy to use multilingual document and selection reader that can also convert text to iPod-ready iTunes files.

Go to the Software Download page to download fully-function demo.

Origin Instruments is the exclusive distributor of the AssistiveWare products in North America.

Amsterdam - 16 April 2009 - GhostReader 1.6

ConvenienceWare(TM) / AssistiveWare(R) today announced the release of GhostReader(TM) 1.6, which delivers new voices for Arabic, Greek, Russian, Italian, Turkish, British English, and Norwegian. It also provides Safari 4 compatibility and adds new large educational discounts. GhostReader is a powerful, yet easy to use multilingual text-to-speech solution for Mac OS X that reads aloud PDF, Word and other documents as well as selected text in any application. It can also convert any text to audio files, MP3s, or bookmarkable audiobooks for playback on iPhone and iPod. Sit back and relax while GhostReader reads for you!

GhostReader 1.6 includes the following enhancements:

New voice languages: Arabic, Greek, Russian.

New high quality voices for existing languages: Italian male voice, Turkish female voice, British female voice, Norwegian male voice.

Compatibility with Safari 4.

New localization: Italian (provided by our partner Active Software: http://www.active-software.com ).

GhostReader can be used by anyone who prefers to listen to text rather then read it. Many professionals, writers, educators and students use it on a daily basis to save time, to proof read their own writing or to learn the pronunciation of foreign languages or to improve their reading and listening comprehension.

GhostReader 1.6 is a free update for existing users. It is a Universal Binary requiring Mac OS X 10.4 or later. Voices are currently available for the following Acapela Group languages: American English, British English, Czech, Finnish, French, Canadian French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, American Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, Turkish, Greek, Arabic, Russian and Swedish. GhostReader itself is localized in English, French, Italian and German.

Pricing for GhostReader starts at 39.95 Euro/USD excluding VAT for a single-user monolingual version (includes all voices for a language of choice). Multilingual licenses, household licenses, classroom licenses and school licenses are also available. New with GhostReader 1.6 are:

Educational M license for up to 150 computers (999 Euro/USD excluding VAT)

Educational L license for up to 1000 computers (1849 Euro/USD excluding VAT )

L+ licenses for 500 additional computers (500 Euro/USD excluding VAT).

GhostReader is also available as a bundle with Infovox iVox for system-wide high quality voices that can be used with practically all Speech Manager compatible Mac OS X applications. Pricing for this bundle starts at 109 Euro/USD excluding VAT for a single user license.

Origin Instruments is the exclusive distributor of the AssistiveWare products in North America.

Grand Prairie, TX - 29 January 2008 - Origin Instruments Announces Expanded Sip/Puff Product Line to Benefit People Affected by Motor Disabilities

Origin Instruments Corporation, a leading global provider of assistive technology, today announced it is adding new offerings to its popular Sip/Puff Switch product line. The Sip/Puff solutions are ideal for people who have limited or no motor skills enabling them to operate switch activated devices, including computers, augmentative communication devices, voting machines, adapted toys, environmental control systems and devices accessed or controlled by scanning. Sip/Puff technology is also popular for wheel chair navigation.

For people effected with severe motor disabilities, manipulating a standard switch can be difficult, tiring and in some cases impossible. With Origin Instruments Sip/Puff offerings users can easily activate and have control over devices through a simple “sip” and/or “puff” into a mouth tube.

Origin Instruments announces availability of two new switch offerings and user interfaces for sip/puff switch users. These products are offered individually and as packaged solutions to users, individual entities, contract manufacturer’s, vendors and integrators.

Sip/Puff Switch($160.00 Suggested Retail Price) – The Sip/Puff Switch translates sips and puffs into independent switch closures. The rugged electro-mechanical design requires no external power. Test buttons are integrated to assist in application testing. Electrical interface is provided through a choice of connectors for two standard mono cables or a single stereo cable. A twist-on pneumatic interface provides for direct connection to a range of available user interface options, including Origin Instruments Headset and Gooseneck.

Breeze ($180.00 Suggested Retail Price) – Breeze is an advanced USB sip/puff switch in an extremely compact package. It connects directly to standard USB ports on computers, laptops, and AAC devices and provides hardware emulation of mouse buttons or joystick functions. For special applications, sensitivity is selectable and dynamic pressure readings can be directly accessed through the USB interface. The integrated pneumatic port connects directly to a range of available user interface options including Origin Instruments Headset and Gooseneck.

Sip/Puff Headset ($150.00 Suggested Retail Price) – Sip/Puff Headset is a comfortable, adjustable head frame. The padded headset slips over the ears and behind the head. This head-referenced design maximizes compatibility with other assistive technologies - like HeadMouse® - that employ head movement as an input interface. A replaceable mouth tube is held in position with an integral stainless steel forming wire. The tube and wire can be bent and cut to adapt to individual needs. A thin, pliable connecting tube interfaces to Sip/Puff Switch or Breeze with a simple twist connector.

Sip/Puff Gooseneck ($150.00 Suggested Retail Price) - Strong, lightweight and versatile, the Sip/Puff Gooseneck features a universal clamp that securely attaches to table tops, beds and wheelchairs. The flexible steel gooseneck and the ball-and-socket mount enable easy and secure mouthpiece positioning. The filtered mouthpiece is replaceable and a thin, pliable connecting tube interfaces to Sip/Puff Switch or Breeze with a simple twist connector.

AirVoter™ ($395.00 Suggested Retail Price) - Is the leading sip-puff peripheral for accessibility used by voting systems for individuals with motor disabilities and limited dexterity. AirVoter's disposable mouthpiece includes an in-line aseptic filter to enable hygienic, worry-free voting by a succession of voters. AirVoter interfaces to accessible voting machines via single stereo cable or USB connection. AirVoter is packaged in a compact case for storage and transport. In short, AirVoter is a simple and cost-effective access solution in support of HAVA.

Multi-User Sip/Puff Switch ($399.00 Suggested Retail Price) – A special package similar to AirVoter for assessement centers, heathcare institutions, testing facilities, schools, etc.

“We are pleased to announce the availability of these new offerings, bringing additional capabilities and benefit to those with motor disabilities”, said Steve Bain, President of Origin Instruments Corporation. “Our goal is to provide users choice to select the best switch offering and interface to meet their needs and capabilities”.

Click here to learn more about the product features and technology behind these new offerings.

Both the new Breeze and Sip/Puff Switch are perfect companions for Origin Instruments HeadMouse Extreme®, wireless headpointing device for computer mouse emulation.

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