| Maavis provides greatly simplified access to media, communications,
web and programs on a computer. It is primarily designed for people who
are either unsure of computers or
unable to use them without adaptation. It was designed and developed as part of research into use of technology by people living with dementia. Maavis is tool for creating screens of buttons containing text or images perform simple operations when activated. Activation can be with, pointer, keyboard, touch screen or with the built in scanning support for switch users. Screens are arranged in a hierarchy that provides 'activity selection', 'item group selection' and 'item players'. Players are provided for photos, music, information (web pages), video calls and basic AAC. A very simple user login feature is also provided for shared use. Stop Press - Maavis with Sylvia Syms in the Mail on Sunday |
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The media and programs that users access are easily configured by facilitators
including support staff. This is achieved through copying media files
into specific folders, where they automatically become available in the
choosers and players. Almost all media formats can be played and
scalable SVG images such as those from straight-street.com
can be used. More sophisticated configuration, such web items or the
order of items, can be achieved by editing basic text files. A settings
utility is provided using Maavis buttons. Custom screens can also be designed using familiar web technologies (HTML, CSS Javascript). This affords great flexibility and predefined Maavis features are accessed using extensions to these standard formats. For ultimate flexibility the core code is a Firefox web browser extension and is open source. We encourage you to join us in developing Maavis. |
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