Pac Rim 2009 Info
Noted Speakers: Dr. Neil G. Scott
Polly Arango | Fernando Cruz | Frank De Lima | Frank DeRuyter | Katharina Heyer | Cinda and Linea Johnson | David Johnson | Robert Mcruer | Leolinda Parlin | Tanya and Michelle Ponich | Joseph Ray | Suzanne Robinson | Loretta Ross | Dr. Neil Scott | Howard C. Shane | Charlotte Smith | Bethany Stevens | Damon Terzaghi | Amy Wilson
Monday May 4th, 2009: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM in Room 307A, on topic of Universal Design For Living
“The Future of Universal Design and Independent Living”
The concept of universal design has been promoted for the past two decades with the goal that every person should be able access any information or physical devices regardless of his or her particular needs, abilities, preferences or culture. While this has resulted in many significant advances in accessibility, overall achievements fall far short of what was envisioned by pioneers in the field. While access to information and the Internet is quite advanced, many of the physical aspects of daily living remain difficult or beyond the reach of individuals with special needs. This is not because we don’t have the necessary knowledge or technologies. Accessibility problems are often the result of corporate decisions to maximize profits by ignoring special needs. In this address, Dr. Scott will share his vision of how advances in technologies such as smart sensors, distributed intelligence, energy scavenging and robotics; along with changes in corporate attitudes and legal pressures; can be channeled into creating affordable, universally accessible environments that will support truly independent living.
Biography: Neil Scott
For almost four decades, Dr. Neil Scott has worked to extend access to computers and information appliances in education and for individuals who experience difficulties due to aging or disability. Acknowledgments for his work in this field include: being named by Discover Magazine as one of the top five innovators in computer technology and electronics in 1997 for his invention of the Total Access System; being featured in a special memorial edition of the San Francisco Magazine in January 2000 as one of fifteen Bay Area futurists who will shape the way people will live, think, work and play in the new millennium.
Dr. Scott was a co-founder and co-director of the Archimedes Project that was established at Stanford University in 1991 to ensure that all people would have equal access to information in the age of the Internet. After twelve years at Stanford, he moved the Archimedes Project to the University of Hawaii where the scope was expanded to include technology education for the 21st century. In collaboration with the University of Hawaii College of Education, he is Co-Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation grant called the Invention Factory.
