Peter 2.0: Building a Cyborg

Matthew Peter Aylett, Ari Shapiro, Sai Prasad, Lama Nachman, Stacy Marcella, Peter Scott-Morgan

Abstract: Peter Scott-Morgan has MND/ALS. He is now paralyzed and depends on technology to keep him alive and communicate with others. In this paper we outline the design and creation of unique communication system driven by an open source eye-tracking interface (ACAT ) which aims to preserve Peter’s character through: 1. A cloned artificial voice, 2. An animated avatar. We describe the AI techniques adopted, the interface design and integration process for what is fundamentally an applied accessibility AI project. Finally we discuss Peter’s use of the word “transitioning cyborg” to describe his take-up of AI support technology.