They do not notice that their arrival on campus is announced simultaneously on large plasma monitors in: (a) Joey’s future home – to his staff and caretakers who now switch gears to prepare his room and ready a “Welcome Joey” party, (b) in Joey’s future classrooms – to his teachers and aides who quickly dispatch a paraprofessional to prepare his workstation and meet the new arrival, (c) to the infirmary – where a doctor and nurse ready the files for parental review and prepare his medications so he does not miss a dose, (d) to the admissions office – summoning their case worker to greet them at the front door, (e) to the cafeteria – where Joey’s meals require special preparation and staff is informed of Joey’s feeding profile, (f) to the Billing and Accounting department – where the records system is “activated” to begin tracking Joey’s case expenses, (g) to the Information Technology department – where Joey’s data will be tracked and distributed, and (h) to Psychology – where Joey’s new psychologist and behavior specialist are meeting to discuss his arrival.
And Joey’s parents haven’t even parked the car yet.
As Joey scrambles out of the back seat, clutching his PECS book in one hand and in the other brandishing a fluorescent plastic sword, his parents rush to restrain him as he bolts into the open parking lot. With only urgency in their minds, the parents race to get a grasp on him but he eludes them, twisting and bending to get away; they do not know that one of many outdoor small cameras informs the monitoring supervisor of a potential renegade student, and that she immediately dispatches two additional paraprofessionals to manage Joey. They arrive thirty seconds later in the parking lot, where Joey’s two parents are frantically trying to surround him on all four sides. Joey, who was headed for a swim in the lake (Joey loves water and saw the lake on the drive in and decided the lake was there for swimming), is now being escorted to the health offices by the parents, the admissions staff member, and two aides, while Joey protests his inability to indulge his impulses. The parents wonder where the aides came from, and how they got here so quickly. How did everybody know they were here…or that Joey bolted for the lake? Was it coincidence?
Not even through the front door, and Joey’s parents are exhausted. A “New Student Update” flashes across all the plasma monitors, “Joey is on his way to Health”.
The Doctor greets Joey with a high five and a giggling and dancing Elmo Muppet, and Joey seems interested. It’s time for Joey’s new “Data Shirt”. This very special shirt looks like a t-shirt on any other kid (except that it has a large picture of Joey screen printed on the back with the words “Got Data?…been there, done that” underneath). Actually, this shirt is woven with biometric fibers indistinguishable from cotton. As Joey puts the shirt on, two darkened plasma monitors fire to life, displaying the incoming stream of biometric data belonging to Joey. Heart rate, Pulse, blood pressure, temperature, and geo-location, EKG…all jump to maps and charts on the wall, completely profiling what’s going on with Joey, physiologically at this very instant. Blood pressure is elevated – the PDA on his aide’s belt begins to buzz again, displaying the incoming message, “Joey’s BP is elevated…monitoring”. The message is also sent to ELMO. Elmo, meanwhile, is not what he seems. Elmo, cleverly disguised as a Muppet, is actually a sophisticated artificial intelligence unit, capable of monitoring, recording, sending, and even verbalizing, instructions based on environmental factors. ELMO stands for “Environmental Linguistics Moderator Online”. ELMO can trans-code instructions sent to the unit and verbalize them, as well. It is a “talking electronic companion,” capable of managing and intelligently negotiating complex interactional schemas using natural language delivery paradigms; ELMO monitors the relationship between Joey specifically, and the environment in general, and transmits the information about that relationship back to a Data Center where the information is displayed in real time. ELMO is an interactive, intelligent, sensor driven, matchbox sized, always online unit that can be embedded in any toy; ELMO is a super high-tech communication robot without arms and legs.
Elmo looks up at Joey and speaks, “Hi Joey. My name is Elmo. Are you cold? You feel cold.” Escaping Joey’s notice, sensors in Elmo have compared the ambient temperature with Joey’s physical body temperature, and initiated a sequence to inform staff. As Elmo’s words drift through the doctor’s office, the PDA device on Joey’s aide buzzes quietly. He looks down to see the message, “Joey may be cold. Please check and regulate ambient environment. Press -0- to adjust ambient temperature automatically”. The aide presses “0” and the A/C in the room shuts off, temporarily, until Joey leaves. Elmo pipes up, “Is that better?” Joey smiles his first smile of the day.
Joey couldn’t care less about the shirt. He’s trying to figure out if Elmo’s eyes come off (the don’t, and the pin-head size irises of ELMO’s eyes which hide the ultra micro cameras won’t ever budge, either, even if submerged in water). Meanwhile, Joey’s parents are being informed by the doctor that through a special website they can check in on Joey’s biometrics at any time, around the clock. The doctor touches one of the monitors on the wall and the internet flickers into being; he shows Joey’s parents how to log on, and instantly a small-scale replica of the biometrics info sent to the Data Center is displayed. Joey’s parents sigh with relief…they will always know exactly where he is at any given moment…and they will know how he is.
It’s now 10am, time for Joey’s first classroom visit. As Joey leaves the health offices in his new shirt with Elmo in tow, a sensor in the door recognizes Joey’s shirt and sends the information to the Data Center, where the supervisor is tracking Joey on a virtual campus map. Simultaneously, Elmo silently transmits his Joey-specific data to the Data Center and moments later the A/C system turns back on. At the Data Center, by the “Locator Desk,” small labels drift across a virtual map, as individuals traverse the sensor driven campus, some blinking in red, like Joey’s; it blinks in red because biometrics indicate his elevated blood pressure. Just then the red dot starts blinking green, indicating Joey’s blood pressure has returned to normal. The supervisor smiles a wry smile, “Not so different, this one” she tells herself silently…people’s blood pressure generally goes up when they visit the doctor. The data streams to the PDA on Joey’s aide, where the text message silently appears in green font, “BP nominal”.
As Joey and his entourage walk down the corridor, passing the school offices (where another bank of monitors displays staff, schedules, activities, and events associated with the next hour), sensors plot and predict his destination…his new classroom. In room S123 another PDA buzzes on the classroom teacher’s belt, “Joey’s coming”. The teacher deftly moves a student away from the door, thereby reducing the likelihood of an impending aggressive encounter between Joey and his new classmate, once referred to as “Ivan with the Left Hook”. Ivan is sitting at a desk working when Joey enters, and there is no opportunity for aggression incident (Ivan has been known to slug unfamiliar faces).
Joey, his parents, and his new aide enter quietly, while ELMO makes a quick assessment of the changing environmental conditions. None are needed. ELMO pipes up, “Hey Joey, lets go play with the blocks! Let’s get the red ones first!” Joey, a little surprised, complies…he’s still fascinated by ELMO’s eyes…he’s noticed the contraction of the lenses…the eyes seem to change with the light intensity. As Joey and ELMO wander off to Joey’s new workstation, the teacher takes a moment to show Joey’s parents around. At the Health offices the nurse silently watches the monitors, looking at the video feed from Elmo’s eyes, and the real-time information coming from Joey’s data shirt…Joey looks interested and happy. She notes on her tablet application interface in Joey’s chart, “Biometrics nominal”.
Like the new school, the new classroom is state of the art. All workstations are special desks with a coated, layered, touch sensitive, “data field array” as a surface. Each Desktop is displayed on separate monitors in the new classroom’s control room (called the CCR), where one of two full time classroom teachers watches all students all the time. The other teacher is in the classroom itself, instructing the behavior specialists and the aides, and monitoring the students from within arm’s reach. The desktops, like ELMO, are “intelligent”; since the entire desk surface area is one large sensor field, exact dimension measurements of any object placed on it can be correlated with weight information and other descriptors to build an electronic “image” or “footprint” of any object in the classroom; to aid the accuracy of this process, a still picture of the object is compared to a live video feed from one of the many classroom-cams to determine a “match” (like facial recognition software applied to household educational objects). Since the desk “knows” what object it is, it also knows which of Joey’s custom designed academic programs makes use of this object.
Instantly, as Joey puts the first red block on the desk, a monitor in the classroom control room (CCR) lists the program name, “Matching Program,” the present IEP goal, the associated objectives, and all other relevant information. The information fills the upper half of the large plasma monitor. A data sheet seems to etch-a-sketch itself into being while a video feed appears in the lower left corner, and ELMO’s data appears in the lower right. Joey’s ready to work, and the data center, the classroom control room, ELMO, and Joey’s shirt are all on-line and linked. In Joey’s new residential living group home, the Home Coordinator watches her new student in the classroom, learning about her new charge before ever meeting him – all programs available in the classroom are available and online as well in the home, to promote skill generalization. The classroom teacher shows Joey’s parents how to log into the classroom environment from any web accessible device, and access all the data being generated in the classroom that very moment. Joey’s real-time performance chart seems to scroll into self-existence at the bottom of the screen.
ELMO is at it again, “Joey, look at all those other blocks in the basket….which one of those is the same? Put SAME WITH SAME.” The last instruction had a decidedly different tone – very clear and measured, raised in loudness…and Joey, quite predictably, reacts. He repeats, “Same with Same,” looking at the red block on the desk in front of him…he reaches into the basket beside the table and produces another red block…but it is smaller in size…he puts it on the desk. A box seems to shade itself on the electronic datasheet displayed in the CCR as the video feed magnifies the desk area coverage. The answer was incorrect. ELMO prompts Joey to try again…Joey’s getting frustrated and slams the desk with a pumped fist. It’s the first inkling of “Joey the Tasmanian”.
In the CCR Joey’s parents talk about Joey, his personality, his needs, his likes and dislikes; in the classroom, the aide sits down with Joey, to de-escalate the event in a way only another human being can…with a kind touch, a warm smile, and the radiating the confidence of impending, and close-by, success, and the determined voice of experienced authority. Executing the matching program now in tandem, the aide begins to observe the behavioral dynamics of Joey’s workflow. This aide is no ordinary paraprofessional; “Big John” is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who leads the “New Arrival Team.” Over the next ten days his team will produce a custom behavior plan based on their observations of Joey in the classroom, in his extracurricular activities, at his new home on campus…at every waking and sleeping moment and wherever he goes.
This behavior data matrix is managed by a new artificial intelligence computer, capable of modeling hundreds of thousands of possible behavioral responses to certain behavioral events in an instant, and constantly checking the models against real time data coming in. It does this for every student on campus. The computer’s name is “HBO” – Human Behavior Organizer. When ELMO detects a change in the environment, the modeling process is influenced, and expected behavior outcomes are consequently and appropriately modified. HBO also incorporates the biometric data, and all other program data. All of the information generated about Joey and the environment is fed into this matrix, and stored on virtual server shares, which will travel with Joey throughout the rest of his life. It is a new beginning for Joey, and for his family – a new life-span service program.
“HBO” will then code the response associations and organize the data tool palette for Joey’s specific behavior measurements; then it will serve that data tool palette in all option fields in every program that Joey is a part of. The behavior plan will be based on data entered into a behavior matrix from all points of data collection…automatically. In fact, John’s only task is to guide the team to generate more data-opportunities…the data recording, processing, and analysis is left to sensors and technology itself. The result is a behavior plan based on real-world observations, outlining real-world response behavior schemas, based on the statistical likelihood of each behavior’s recurrence, having apprehended all personally significant and environmentally relevant factors.
HBO is highly experimental, and focuses on a task well beyond special education: to predict behavior outcomes in advance of the events designed to initiate them. HBO’s recommendation set is available at any instant by touching the “HELP” button on any of the monitors in any data section – three “re-direction” outcomes are offered, and three event sequences are available for initiation, ranked by probability of successful outcome. HBO can even initiate these events directly through ELMO; HBO can call the fire department, an ambulance, or the police…about events going on with a student wherever they are. It’s HBO who sends all the text messages to the PDA’s and monitors.
This new experimental technology at this new school is the result of a long collaborative effort with technology leaders in the world, a willingness to deploy extreme technology for educational purposes, and a will and recognition that helping us help children begins with open opportunities for development — in all areas, academic, technological, and interpersonal. It is a reflection of the understanding that technology can help organize human behavior and further a culture of education focused on determinate outcomes behaved into being. “HBO” represents the synthesis of non-profit education experience and for-profit business technologies – the merger of know-how, finance, R&D, product delivery, customer satisfaction, and outcome competence; it’s a trans-national, collaborative effort to completely rethink education.
HBO is the only computer in the world of it’s kind; it is why Joey is here. Joey’s “behaviors” in the last year have caused more harm, more damage, more mayhem, and more tears, physical and psychological, than some people experience in a lifetime. The inability of anyone to anticipate Joey’s behavior (which has frequently endangered his own life as well as the lives of others) have brought him to this special place, where Joey’s parents hope that once and for all, someone will figure out why Joey acts the way he does…and do something about it. The intricate data algorithms will try to correlate Joey’s physical state to his behavior sequences, looking for “predictors” of behavior-onsets, so that aggressive or self-injurious behaviors can be “pre-managed” or even completely “redirected”.
As Big John, Joey, HBO and ELMO finish the “Matching Program,” a small chorus of cheers erupts from the classroom control room. Off to a rocky start with a mismatch, Joey got the gist of the program pretty quickly, and ended up scoring a majority of successes in his first twenty trials. Joey’s first program at his new school is a success…all systems go. In the background, Joey’s data automatically translates into a new goal structure with three associated objectives; the next time Joey returns to this task, the outcomes bar will be based on his past performance and raised a couple of notches, due to his success. It’s 10:30am now, and the PDA on Big John’s belt buzzes to life, flashing “Snack Time!”. John introduces the idea to Joey, and Joey likes it. Joey’s favorite snack is diced peaches, and they are ready and waiting for him in the cafeteria. “Enough classroom for now…today is a big day, there is so much more to do!” John chides Joey. The doorway and hall sensors announce Joey’s impending arrival in the cafeteria silently for the kitchen staff, and in the Data Center the supervisor watches the small entourage make their way as the group enters the serving area. Snack Time is uneventful.
As Joey returns the empty snack dish to the “clean up counter,” another sensor keys a message in John’s PDA, “Proceed to GYM for A.P.E.” This is a change in schedule; ordinarily they would have headed over to the home, but another student is having a tantrum and Joey’s arrival could create two new problem scenarios – one for Joey and one for the other student. John leads Joey to one of the large interactive display monitors in the hallway, and – as they approach – the monitor switches displays to present Joey’s visual picture schedule for that day. John shows Joey “what’s next”. The Home coordinator and Data Center Supervisor adjusted the order of events based on another student’s current behavior, and instead the Adapted Physical Education teacher makes time now instead of this afternoon. The same instant John received his PDA message, the scheduling board in the new Gym begins to beep and alerts the teacher of the schedule change, “New Arrival Evaluation: Joey, NOW AT 11:00am”. Behind the scenes, far from the recesses of Joey’s or his parents’ concerns, a seamless flow of opportunity and successful outcomes is paving the way for Joey to learn, driven by human beings who make strategic decisions, and executed by technology in synchronization with an individual subject and the general environment. The “big behavior picture” of all students is successfully driving “individual” behavior success of each student.
Adapted Physical Education has reached a new threshold of meaning at the new school. Once confined to rudimentary “adaptive” constructs such as Velcro closures over foot pedals on large tricycles, technology has forced a new “adaptive” envelope. Joey’s new biometric shirt, and it’s streaming online data feed, offer a whole new set of tools to the instructor. Now able to monitor biometrics exceptionally closely and at all times, precise thresholds for Joey’s “workouts” can be determined, worked towards, achieved, and managed and sustained. Since all data enters the HBO, goals and outcomes are automatically adjusted and refined based on performance. While official IEP (Individual Education Plan) goals are registered and displayed, the daily events of task-goal execution are incrementally managed in microscopic steps by an intelligent system able to “safely push the envelope for that specific individual”. In the case of A.P.E., Joey loves the treadmill…an ideal choice for physical exercise. Today’s performance data from Joey’s 10-minute walk will determine tomorrow’s walk-length and speed, and so forth. Data from Joey’s shirt will figure into this process, as will ELMO’s data, as will all the other data fed into HBO.
Besides the treadmill, all the other athletic equipment is similarly equipped; Joey enjoys the scooter game (which measures hand to eye to muscle coordination), basketball (building upper body strength), and, of course, the therapy pool – where isometric aquatic exercise builds whole body muscle tone. On the scooter proprioceptive input force and upper body strength is measured and fed into HBO via Joey’s shirt; while playing basketball an intelligent backboard and net register the number of attempted baskets, and the number completed and missed; in the pool several systems combine, including video footage and isometric and biometric data. Meanwhile, HBO calculates the amount of energy expended and adjusts Joey’s caloric intake menu accordingly; post-it size alerts are sent to the Health center with baseline data for routine exercise, as well as to the inbox of the A.P.E. Instructor’s email. Roughly an hour later, exercised and showered, the small group is ready to move on, and PDA’s and monitors light up everywhere, “Lunch-Time.”
It is noon, and the data center has already logged almost three hours worth of evaluation material; one crisis event (the bolting episode) has been deftly managed, and several possible crisis events (aggressive encounters involving other students) have been swiftly, pro-actively avoided; Joey has been equipped with data generating tools, and he is already part of the Heartspring Behavior Organizer matrix; goals and programs have been logged and adjusted, objectives for several tasks have been catalogued and redrafted; physical exercise thresholds have been measured and baselined; Joey has been medically, academically, and socially supervised at all times by a combination of human and electronic elements…and Joey hasn’t even had his first meal here, yet.
Joey ate his gluten-free, MSG free, and lactose-free meal laughing intermittently at ELMO, who was singing Sesame Street’s newest blockbusting hit, “It’s Monsterful To Be Me.” Joey didn’t touch his vegetables, a fact only briefly registered by Big John as they returned Joey’s tray. Next to the tray return is a touch-screen, and sensing Joey, it displayed Joey’s lunch broken down into portions with caloric and nutritional values. Next to that, a descending scale allows the user to enter how much of each portion is consumed. John briefly touched the “None” button next to the vegetable serving icon, and the screen processed and refreshed the information. It took less than three seconds, an action as natural and out-of-awareness as can be imagined.
HBO processed the data, and readjusted Joey’s evening meal to augment the missing nutrients and calories, taking care to remain within gluten-free, MSG free, and lactose free parameters. Joey’s medical history requires this level of intervention; if Joey doesn’t maintain his natural chemical balance, he becomes weak, lethargic, will not eat, will not learn…he will simply deteriorate. But without the need for a nutritionist, Joey will acquire these intake values before going to bed tonight. In the kitchen, later this afternoon, the cook will scan Joey’s dinner preparation chart – tonight’s dinner will include an extra floret of broccoli, an extra teaspoon of butter, and a change from mashed potatoes to mashed sweet potatoes. Joey’s requirements will be met.
The PDA on Big John’s belt buzzes again, and glancing briefly at the display, they head towards Joy’s new home…Group Home A. As HBO sends messages ahead of them, Joey once again notices the lake as they walk across the college like quad area. Pulling away from Big John, the twelve year old delivers a swift kick to John’s shin and bolts towards the lake, still clutching ELMO; as Joey’s heart rate increases, the biometrics monitor jumps off the scale having received ELMO’s distress call, sounding a chirping alarm in the Data Center. The supervisor, glancing briefly at the location and the display, informs two more dutiful paraprofessionals that help is needed. They arrive roughly a minute later, too late to intercept Joey, but early enough to help Big John manage his young, lanky but powerful, and out of control charge.
After some time to calm down and refocus, they begin anew for the home…and the update on monitors everywhere instantly refreshes, “Joey is on his way to Group Home A”. Joey’s parents and teacher, having returned from lunch, are already at the Home, waiting. As the sensors detect him, they watch on a large display monitor in the home as Joey rounds the curve on the virtual campus map and as the distance between the green blinking dot and the blue outline of the home decreases. As he walks through the door, Joey is met with a Welcome party, and John has a chance to update the parents on what has transpired. He pulls out his PDA and accesses the video behavior link, and replays the behavior event sequence as seen from one of the schools may outdoor high resolution cameras. The parents are relieved. They understand what happened.
Joey’s room number is 5. Like Joey’s classroom, it is rigged with technology and learning opportunities. The bed monitors the quality and depth of sleep; lights turn on and off automatically when someone enters or leaves; the closets and dresser have lit compartments which can “teach” how to put clothes away appropriately; the desk has another intelligent data-surface; the cabinets contain the same programs and items found in the classroom, such as the red blocks; the rooms are self-vacuuming and the windows tint with exposure to light from the outside. The adjoining bathroom, made of all stainless brushed steel appliances with not a single sharp edge to be found, is self cleaning; when needed, the empty room seals itself and fills with bursts of hot steam, effectively sanitizing the entire bathroom area. HBO controls all Home functions automatically, and the entire home is focused on providing as much “functional independence” as possible to each student.
Supplies for the Home are managed through an intelligent supply chain management system, where consumed (missing) goods are replaced by on-line delivery services summoned to do so. Food materials are requisitioned from a local supermarket after having checked the weekly specials at all stores (electronically), and deliveries are made directly to refrigerators and pantries capable of monitoring stocked goods. Non-consumables are requisitioned from supply companies who deliver and publish their catalogs online. Physically, the Home requires little more than an aide for each student.
The coolest thing in Joey’s new room is the large multi-purpose monitor on which he can watch TV, work the internet, and play one very, very special video game. Joey loves video games, especially the car-racing kind; he loves driving the cars, and crashing them. But this video game is unlike any other…it comes with a special baseball hat. The hat is made from the same biometric fiber material that constitutes Joey’s new shirt and positions wireless EEG electrodes strategically around Joey’s head. It feels like a cotton cap, but it is so much more. This new video game incorporates a new wireless, interactive biofeedback schema to increase Joey’s attention span over time. As Joey plays the game, information from the hat is sent to the game…and the game makes adjustments. One apparent anomaly: Joey cannot succeed in crashing the car. As the car increases speed and is on the verge of getting out of control it mysteriously slows down and forces Joey to regain control, thus increasing the variable length of beta-waves his brain is generating…indicating sustained attention. If Joey were to crash the car the beta wave cycles would become much shorter, indicating the breakup of sustained attention. Since Joey cannot fail with this game, and since the biofeedback data is sent back to HBO, HBO manages the gradual progressive increase in attention by varying and managing the game. Joey gets to play this game during time scheduled for recreational activities, so even when Joey is playing and having some “down time” doing what Joey likes to do best, Joey is learning, getting educationally stronger, and pushing the envelope on his own cognitive self. He is also training his eye to hand coordination, significantly, while playing this game. Data from the gaming outcomes is sent to HBO and fed into the matrix, allowing teachers and psychologists to better profile the length of Joey’s attention span, and incorporate that information into other tasks.
Joey is having such a good time that Big John finds it hard to redirect his new student. HBO is buzzing John’s PDA, reminding him that Joey is to meet his new Physical Therapist in 10 minutes. As Joey reluctantly gives up his baseball cap and game controls, John shows Joey his visual picture schedule on the big wall mounted monitor, and they set off for the PT lab. In the Lab, a brand new therapy aid is available, “The 3-D Gait Trainer.” The new gait trainer is an ambulation modifier…it can change the way you walk. In Joey’s case, his tendency to lean forward and walk on the balls of his feet impedes a normal gait. The new gait trainer allows a laser targeting system designed for aircraft combat to measure the precise amount of space Joey is taking up as he walks; it measures distances between multiple points in space given an “origin point,” which in this case is Joey himself. Joey has a forward lean angle of 8 degrees, which will be gradually reduced over time, one degree after another, until his measurements fall within the “normal” gait parameters of “everyday” walking activity. These measurements allow the therapists to concentrate on correcting one part of the gait at a time; they enable the therapists to build and document improvement in previously impossible ways, and then move on to the next part of gait construction and/or modification.
After the gait-training session, it’s a short walk across the hall to the Music room, where Joey’s eyes light up with delight. He loves music, anything rhythmic, anything auditory and physically related. He immediately heads for the interactive drum set, and as he sits down, a click track starts playing through a small speaker in the drummer’s baseball cap that comes with the set. As the click track pounds out its simple beat, each drum lights up, prompting Joey to hit it with a drumstick. Immediately the drum set measures the delay between lighting up and Joey’s response “hit” on the drum surface, and adjusts the light-up cue so that Joey is successful at hitting the drum “on the beat” of the click track. The beat is then reinforced with a short “vibrate” cue of the seat; the entire drum set individualizes the student’s successful rhythm completion – with visual, auditory, and sensory feedback. Over time, the rhythms and drum sequences will get more complex. The data generated, like all data, is fed into HBO and turns itself into a goal with associated objectives. Joey is having the time of his life, as the teacher turns on the sound system, and the computer picks a song with the same beat count Joey is currently pounding out…all of a sudden Joey sounds like a concert drummer with a back up band. Joey is grinning, laughing, shouting with delight, and the teacher smiles a knowing smile — Joey will definitely be back for more of this.
The group heads back to Joey’s classroom, and a speech therapist is waiting for Joey at one of the new surface computers. It’s time for Joey’s reading lesson, and as Joey sits down, the surface computer fires to life and presents Joey with a large font sentence on the interactive, multi-touch coffee table style monitor. As the speech therapist prompts Joey to read the sentence, a microphone records Joey’s voice and analyzes the speech patterns using more natural language paradigms. The high resolution audio recording is attached to the program record in HBO, along with the performance data. As Joey completes the first sentence successfully, a Sesame Street video pops up on the display as reinforcement for the task completion. On the large display monitors on the wall, a new speech analysis graph of consonant and vowel sounds illustrates areas of strength and weakness, to confirm the speech therapist’s assessments and detail Joey’s program performance. As the video ends, the next sentence is presented on the computer’s surface monitor, and the prompt-task-reinforcement sequence begins again. Next comes the vocabulary section of the program; the computer prompts Joey with a single word, “Circle”. The speech therapist uses a finger and draws a rainbow colored circle on the surface monitor, clarifying the referent, and Joey repeats the action – although his “circle” attempt looks more like a square. Instantly the computer pops up a “circle-guide” which outlines a circle shape with two concentric circles a half inch apart. Joey tries again, this time staying within the guidelines of the circle. As he completes the circle drawing with his finger, the surface display visually explodes into a full screen fireworks display, celebrating the accomplishment. Joey giggles – he has never had this much fun learning. Ten sentences and ten vocabulary words later, Big John’s PDA is buzzing again.
The afternoon has flown by – it is already 5:00pm. As Joey’s parents drive to the Hotel to rest from today’s hectic and emotionally charged events, from all the meetings and all the commotion, Joey and Big John head out to the school’s playground to play with the other kids. Of course, it is an “intelligent” playground. Sensors identify all students, and the playground “offers” access to certain activities. For instance, Ben has very serious bone fragility; the playground will not let him use the slide by “disappearing” the steps on the ladder as he places his hands on the ladder’s rail. Susie needs to use a back-supported swing…as she approaches the swing-set, the open-back swings rise upward and become unavailable, while the chair-swing “leans” forward to let Susie sit down. The carousel is unavailable to Joey, as he gets violently ill and possibly initiates the onset of seizures when made dizzy; as Joey approaches the colorful carousel, it locks up and refuses to spin. The basketball court “records” the number of attempts and scores, and transfers the data to HBO where it is incorporated in Joey’s data set.
The dinner bell buzzes on John’s PDA, and it’s time to walk to the cafeteria. Joey’s HBO-modified dinner is waiting for him, and as he reaches for his tray, sensors release his evening medication into a small cup. The nurse monitors the medicine consumption from her offices via video-link, and John confirms the medicine intake by brushing across another steel framed touch screen on the wall, which blinks accordingly and registers the data.
Back in the Data Center, where shift changes are happening, the day supervisor gathers her things, rubs her eyes, and wonders about the new boy, Joey. He’s had a very intense day, full of new experiences, and fraught with new boundaries. His bolting was contained, she muses…he ate well, didn’t slug anybody, didn’t get hurt. She has seen much, much worse in other settings she has worked, where there was a total lack of supervisory control. How did they do it before all this technology, how archaic did it all seem previously? She smiles as she thinks about how much she loves her job, and then grins at the pun crossing her mind, as she envisions having to make dinner for a family of seven, “I really should get HBO at home.”
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