 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Sip-and-puff" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2016) |
Sip-and-puff orsip 'n' puff (SNP) isassistive technology used to send signals to a device usingair pressure by "sipping" (inhaling) or "puffing" (exhaling) on a straw, tube or "wand." It is primarily used by people who do not have the use of their hands. It is commonly used to control amotorized wheelchair byquadriplegics with very high injury to theirspinal cord or people withALS.[1]
Devices that use SNP technology require specific amounts of air pressure to be "sipped" or "puffed" by the user. These amounts of pressure are typically denoted as a hard sip/hard puff or soft sip/soft puff, however other terminologies might exist. Note that the words "hard" and "soft" are relative to the user and depend on their breathing abilities. Typically, air pressure levels pertaining to hard sips/puffs and soft sips/puffs are set through an initialcalibration of thepressure sensor completed before the user starts to use their SNP device. With the assistance of an aid or technician, the user will program the SNP device to recognize their body's ability to produce hard sips/puffs and soft sips/puffs. Once this calibration process is complete, the SNP device will only recognize the user specific sips and puffs that have been saved into the SNP device.
Typical applications of Sip-and-Puff devices are for control of amotorized wheelchair. Control typically consists of four different inputs from the user. An initial hard puff will enable the wheelchair to move forward, while a hard sip will stop the wheelchair. Conversely, an initial hard sip will enable the wheelchair to move backward, while a hard puff will stop the wheelchair. A continuous soft sip or soft puff will enable the wheelchair to move left or right respectively depending on how long the user blows into the tube, straw or "wand".
The mouth-controlled input provide users a simple and effective way to controlmouse movement. Movement and operation of thisjoystick is similar to that of a mouth stick. Mouse button clicking is accomplished with the help of sips or puffs function of the joystick.
A sip-and-puff input device combined withcomputer accessibility software means manykeyboard-accessible programs can be used with this device.