The research of Project Archimedes can be divided into three parts. 1 Designing prototypes of devices and systems that will assist individuals with disabilities 2 Exploring facets of accessibility problems in order to identify possible technical solutions and relevant scientific and policy issues 3 Conducting research, in conjunction with other CSLI projects, on relevant scientific issues. The Total Access System project seeks to provide access to technology through a clean separation of the information to be accessed from the form of presentation required for individual users. The project is designing personal accessors that will talk to host computers and computer-based devices through infrared communications links. The accessors will thus become part of a three-way system, the Total Access System, that has been designed by Neil Scott.
TAPs are inexpensive devices that can be built-in or added on to existing computers.
The infrared link uses a specially developed serial communications protocol which is independent of both the accessor and the host. Standardization of the protocol allows any accessor to operate with any host device. The Communicator Project is developing a family of hand-held devices to facilitate communication between individuals who do not share a common language or between individuals who share a common language but lack shared communication methods. The communicators are hand-held versions of the Total Access System. For example, one communicator can be trained to recognize a deaf person's speech or compressed keyboard input and reproduce it for the conversational partner as voice or expanded text.