United States Researcher, One of Six Finalists, Competes for a Year's Free Technology Consulting Sponsored by the Altran Foundation for Innovation

Altran Foundation Press Release:

"The Altran Foundation for Innovation has selected six finalists out of 110 submitted applications representing 15
countries who exemplify this year's theme 'Overcoming Social Exclusion through Science and Technological Innovation.' The 2005 Altran Foundation for Innovation award goes to innovations that facilitate the inclusion of people in our society. This cross-disciplinary theme requires a multi-dimensional approach to issues such as health, transportation, housing, lifelong learning, education and training as well as access to services, employment, and
resources. Applications under consideration include:

* A Brain-Powered Remote Control for Paralyzed People
* Helping People Walk Again
* Better Guidance for the Blind and Visually Impaired
* An Electric All-Terrain Wheelchair
* The Internet Helping the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
* A Wheelchair Guided by User Interface

"The winner or winners will be announced on June 16th at the gala 2005 Awards ceremony which is being held at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO............

"Jonathan R. Wolpaw at the Laboratory of Nervous System Disorders of the Wadsworth Center in the United States has been selected as one of six finalists. His work gives severely disabled people an innovative
communication aid by developing a new generation of brain-computer interfaces that can provide both communication and control functions. By recording brain waves from the scalp and then decoding them, this creative new system allows people to move a cursor up and down and left and right, to spell words, and
even to control a robotic arm."