From: Circuit Cellar Ink
      June, 1998 - page 35

Mobile Environmental Control from a Wheelchair
Dan Leland - Coquitlam, CANADA

Dan wants to enable people with little or no limb function to access common
household appliances without assistance. His goal: to design and build a
simple scanning input device using the PIC16C84 that would serve as the front
end for a versatile universal IR remote. With the device, the user could
access a variety of TV and stereo components as well as X-10 enabled devices
from anywhere in the home. 

Dan first built a Scanning User Interface (SUI) with a 4 by 10 LED array,
corresponding to the buttons on the remote. The device has a variety of
ability control switches and operating modes that let the user make a
selection. 

The user scans up, down, and across the LEDs via a sip-and-puff pneumatic
switch (other switches - blink, finger-flex, head tilt, or oversize
button/paddle can also be used). Once a selection is made, the SUI sends the
appropriate serial control command through a three wire cable to the IR
remote.  

You may reach Dan at rd@mindlink.bc.ca