Device helps to give the gift of reading
Students construct a page turner
From: Palo Alto Daily - 09/05/2006 - page 1
By: Brian Babcock

Three Stanford students have given one Redwood Shores man a chance to do
something he lost years ago - the ability to read. 

Students Caitlin Donhowe, Nick Manov, and Mike Laufer put together a
prototype "page turner" they hope will be the-first in many affordable page
turners. 

Rich Hall, 49, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as
Lou Gehrig's disease, was one person that the students talked to throughout
the project. 

Hall, a Redwood Shores resident, was diagnosed with the disease in 2004. An
avid reader who went through about one library book a week, lost the ability
to read when the muscles in his arms started to weaken. 

"I can't hold a book let alone turn a page," he said. 

Hall uses the machine by pressing a button with his head that tells it to
turn the page. The page turner goes through four phases, and uses a long,
circular tool to pull the page so Hall can read the book without using his
arms.  

"It was such a rewarding project," Donhowe said. "You want to do a meaningful
and fulfilling project."  

ALS affects about 30,000 people in America, the ALS Association says. The
disease causes a paralyzing effect in the limbs and trunks of their bodies.
Within the last few weeks, Hall has had to use a wheelchair to get around.  

So for Hall, something was needed to help him read like he used to. 

The machine was put together for the students' "Mechanical Engineering
Design" class. There were projects ideas from NASA, Lockheed, and Applied
Materials. 

Donhowe said she chose this project because there seemed to be a real use for
it and that she wouldn't spend months on something she found to be trivial. 

Although issues came up for the group throughout the five months they worked
on the project, such as time constraints and money, they were able to finish
the prototype on time for the end of the class. And Donhowe said she was glad
they did. Not just for the good grade but also for Hall. 

"I'm a huge ieader and it would be an enormous blow to me to not be able to
read," she said. 

Donhowe said the prototype cost about $800 to put together. She said that
since the group has already worked out the circuitry and most of the bugs, a
page turner can be made even cheaper. 

That sounded good to Hall, who said commercial page turners can cost anywhere
from $1,500 to $5,000. 

"I don't have that type of disposable income," he said. 

Hall has the machine sitting on his dining room table. Although he said he
still is trying to get the hang of the page turner, he has a book already in
place he wants to start reading. 

The book is called "Ceilings ... for a Mother Lode's Child" that was written
by Hall's high school basketball coach, Everett Mohatt, who suffers from
multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair to get around. 

"I guess we have a lot in common now' Hall said. 

Caption: Students from Stanford University built Rich Hall, who has Lou
Gerhig's disease, a mechanical page turner for books. Hall controls the page
turner with a remote device he can access with his head.