About Max

This article was written for Security Dealer Magazine August 1996 edition.

Mighty Max
Multimedia Designs offers a unique voice activated system that pushes home automation to the Max!
by Patricia S. Brucato

Thomas (T.J.) Parker loves to order Max around. On a daily basis, you can hear the 25 year-old calling out a bevy of commands. "Max, open the door," or "Max, change the television channel," and even "Max, fax that letter!" And Max completes each command, some tasks over and over again, without the least bit of whining or complaining. Is Max some kind of martyr? Nope. Max is actually a unique voice activated IBM compatible multimedia computer designed specifically to assist the physically challenged. "Max is a voice activated computer that does "environmental control," stated Daniel J. Deignan, President of Multimedia Designs, Inc. By environmental control, Deignan means Max can raise or lower your thermostat temperature, control electrical appliances such as lights, televisions, and garage doors, and even infrared appliances such as a VCR. Why, Max even answers your door and phone!
The voice activation feature is what clearly makes Max winner with Multimedia Design clients. For them, Max is not just a matter of convenience, or a gimmick; it's a tool that offers them a measure of independence in a life where they have been forced to largely depended on others to perform even the simplest tasks. "Our product is actually designed for the disabled, and currently, that's the only market we are in, " stated Deignan. "My clients are all in wheelchairs and most are paralyzed from the neck down. With our system, they can operate any type of electrical device or actually dictate a letter to Max and fax it anywhere they want. Most importantly, they can answer and dial the phone by using the voice activated system. That's a very important feature for my clients since many cannot answer or dial on their own. And Max even answers the phone when they are working in another part of the computer system."

The Birth of Max: A Star Is Born
The creation of Multimedia Designs is almost as interesting as Max, it's IBM compatible sole product offering. The company was formed in 1991, Deignan says laughingly, in response to his own mid-life crisis. " I began the company when I still had a paying job as the financial director for the city of Clearwater, Florida. I was always interested in computers and my vision when I was forming the company was to create a big screen computer system that would allow people to play games in their family room where everyone could see them. Then I got into voice activation," Deignan states.
As the idea took form and shape, Deignan planned to market these systems to high-end homes where people could walk in and state several commands such as turning on the television, opening the drapes, and closing the garage door. As Deignan progressed in this idea, Glen Warren, a silent partner at Multimedia Designs and an expert in the HAVOC field, pointed out the usefulness of automation and voice activation to the disabled community. "We started looking in that direction and there was an immediate affinity in the disabled market for this product. People just took to it immediately."
Deignan and Warren realized that the product had true marketability in this niche, compared to a lukewarm response in the non-disabled marketplace. "When we started showing the product to (high-end) users, there was mild interest. When we showed it to the disabled market people not only said, 'I want that,' they said 'I want that now.' "
Although Multimedia Design is a firm presence in the assisted technology industry, the company plans to market the system strongly to the non-disabled community in the future. "The biggest drawback in the non-disabled market to using Max is you still need to wear or hold a microphone to run the system. The technology is not yet at the point where you can walk in and speak and have the microphone get what you are saying. The problem is the background noise. The technology is not yet available to a broad-base market appeal, but if you were a person in a wheelchair, wearing a headset is not much of a hardship."
In 1994, Deignan finally left his job as financial director to the city of Clearwater, and began devoting 100% of his time to Multimedia Designs. Deignan also continued to work with Warren, and joined forces with Dr. Steven Ray, an expert in assistive technology. Ray helps in design and marketing of the system, and Warren continues to provides the HAVOC expertise.
The dedication in marketing the system paid off with the company's first installation in Pittsburgh, in 1995, followed by a steady stream of additional installations, primarily in Deignan's home state of Florida. To date, the company has 11 installations, and another three pending.
The Pittsburgh installation in the home of Sandy Blatt, not only won Deignan and Max press coverage on the local news, but also netted Deignan the Home Automation Association Mark of Excellence Award. When interviewed by the local Pittsburgh news station, Blatt remarked that Max was "the greatest thing since sliced bread." Blatt's then fiancee, stated the system not only provided a measure of independence for Sandy, but for the care-givers as well.

Take A Letter, Max
Another benefit of Max is its affordable price tag of $8,000. The system operates from Windows 95 and uses X10, or power line carrier technology, which uses the existing wiring in the house to control appliances anywhere throughout the structure. No pre-wiring is required and retrofit is easy to do.
An additional "Max" feature is its ability to operated infrared devices such as VCRs, or for some disabled clients, infrared hospital beds. The system also provides a video board which allows a user to watch television through a small window on the system, while the user is utilizing the computer's other features. A wireless video camera works with this video board to allow the customer the ability to view people at the front door. The camera is removable to also allow viewing of other rooms, such as a nursery.
With an optional wireless microphone, the user can even operate Max without having to be at the actual computer station. The wireless microphone draws power from the electric wheelchair battery, or users can choose to use a 9 volt battery.
One of the most fascinating features of Max, is its ability to accept dictation from the user and form a letter or document for the customer. The system uses Dragon Dictate for Windows from Dragon Systems, a voice recognition system for the IBM compatible computer system, and all owners of Max receive a fully licensed copy. Although the system currently is limited by the need to pause between each word, Deignan is confident that continuous speech technology is only a few years away.
Thomas ( T.J. ) Parker, one of Deignan's clients uses the system to compose email and send it through the Internet. In fact, Parker's own comments included in this article are a result of using Max through the dictation software and via the Internet. Parker uses a feature in the system called HeadMouse. Being on a ventilator, it is difficult for Parker to talk continually. The software allows Parker to "type" without talking using the mouse. "With this feature, I am currently getting one email from T.J. a day," stated Deignan. " He is on the Internet and he's even downloading programs. It's amazing... and quite rewarding for me to see him able to do so much through Max."

A Winning Partnership
In 1991, Pensacola native, T.J. Parker decided to dive off a pier into the inviting Florida surf below. Misjudging its depth, Parker dove in to tragically discover the water level was only two and half feet in depth. Parker fractured his C1 and C2 vertebrae, leaving him virtually paralyzed from the neck down and requiring a ventilator in which to breathe. A year in intensive care followed by three months of rehabilitation left T.J. with the realization he would always require assistance to perform even the smallest tasks.
In 1993, Dr. Frank Brown, Parker's psychologist, was assisting Parker in trying to locate some sort of product that could assist in performing basic tasks. Working with Brown, Michelle Hartly, Parker's case worker and Gary Sherman, an engineer for the State of Florida, pointed Parker in the direction of Dan Deignan and Max. Six months after Deignan demonstrated the system to Parker, Parker acquired a "Max" of his own. "Max allows me to do quite a few things by my self. such as changing my television channels, talking on and answering the phone, writing letters, turning on and off lights and playing games with my daughter," stated Parker. " These may sound like small things, but believe me, they're not. Now vocational rehabilitation is looking to help me further my education and hopefully find a job. Without Max, I don't think that would be possible," adds Parker.
Parker keeps Max operating virtually around the clock. "Max answers my phones takes my faxes, and runs my scheduler," states Parker. Although Parker is basically the primary and sole user of Max, he has discovered the system also provided him the unique opportunity to provide assistance to his family members. "My family doesn't use Max unless they need something typed, and then they ask me to do it. That's quite a change, because I'm the one that was always asking them to do stuff for me," says Parker.
Training to use Max was relatively easy for Parker, even in spite of his injuries. "Using Max was a lot easier than I thought. Dan spent three days teaching me to use Max and by the time he left, I was completely comfortable."
Max rarely causes Parker any problems, but if one does arise, Parker feels confident that Dan is merely a phone call away. In the case of power failure, the system has a backup power supply that gives time to make phone calls and save any open files. In the event of technical problems, Deignan offers clients a way to receive on the spot technical service through MaxLink, communication software within the user's computer that allows Deignan to remotely take control of the system. "MaxLink allows me to diagnose the problems and fix it, or if need be, load software from my computer."

The Future For Max
Although Max is definitely a star now in the Parker household, Deignan is looking forward to offering new and exciting features to Max in the future. "We are working on a ceiling imbedded microphone which will be a selling feature to the non-disabled market as well, and we are also working on two-way communication to the wheelchair. This would allow answering the phone and hearing who it is and responding. That will add one more layer of independence for our customers," stated Deignan proudly. And the more layers of independence the system can offer, the more people like T.J. Parker will be ready to embrace it. "For the last five years I couldn't imagine using a computer this easily, " stated Parker. " Now, I don't know what I would do without it."
Hey Max, take a bow.

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