Eye Candy Initiative: Project Alicia Accessibility and Interface System

Topic: Disability Product Investors
Author: Eye Candy Initiative
Published: 2014/03/03 - Updated: 2021/09/01
Contents: Summary - Introduction - Main Item - Related Topics

Synopsis: Project Alicia accessibility and interface system designed to help the disabled, seniors, and people with disabilities navigate computers and mobile devices with ease. The concept of the eye candy initiative began sometime ago and the goal of the initiative is to bring about a change in the way that software and games are developed and realized. We began to meet with family and friends and other disabled members of the community in order to fully understand some of the hardships that people face while attempting to do everyday tasks that some of us take for granted.

Introduction

Cast away any physical barriers and control your computers, mobile devices, and eventually Home Electronics with your voice. Embrace the future of artificial intelligence and help revolutionize the software industry with a new artificial intelligence and accessibility engine.

Main Item

We Need Your Help!

The quick break down, Project Alicia is A speech recognition enabled virtual assistant capable of learning from your input.

Alicia also has the ability to be your personal assistant, she can set and track your daily appointments, provide you with Information such as weather forecasts and local events, she can check and read your e-mail, access and interface with your media libraries, and Post to your social networks.

At some point with additional hardware modules Alicia will even be able to control small appliances such as your coffee maker and TV as well as lighting and environmental controls for total home automation.

And that's only the beginning! See below for more information on features or Check out the project Alicia web site located at software.eyecandyinitiative.com/AI/ProjectAlicia/ for additional information.

Project Alicia began as something else.

To fully understand what project Alicia is really all about we first have to look at where the concept came from. The concept of the eye candy initiative began sometime ago and the goal of the initiative is to bring about a change in the way that software and games are developed and realized.

Being comprised of mostly gamers the eye candy initiative's main goal was to bring back the true Artistry in game development. So many times have today's games fallen short of greatness due to missing elements within the title's development. Whether it's a lack of story, or content or sub-par aesthetics something is always missing. The eye candy initiative will attempt to release some very advanced gaming solutions to the industry in fact some of the things we want to do require technology that quite frankly just doesn't exist as of yet.

We felt in order to make some of the complex designs we want to implement we needed to develop a more advanced and efficient artificial intelligence engine. And so we began the long process of concept development for our new advanced AI engine. During the development phase one of the features that came into discussion was the ability to allow for vocal commands and control subsets.

Members of the initiative felt that this was a very important feature due to the fact that we want to make games that everyone can enjoy and we have friends and family that are disabled or handicapped so we felt the ability to control the game with your voice was an important hurdle to tackle.

As we begin to focus more on the vocal commands subset an important question came up "why just voice controlled games why not attempt to make life easier and more enjoyable by creating an application allowing vocal commands for general Computer usage and even eventually home automation", and the concept of project Alicia was born.

We at the eye candy initiative are dreamers but were also grounded; we understand that an endeavor of this size must be completed in different stages. To reach our goal of vocal command and control subsets we must first develop an artificial intelligence engine so that the software can understand how to react to the user's voice.

We began to develop Project Alicia as the vocal interface system as this is the first stage to reaching our goal.

During the concept development a member of the initiative witnessed some hardship that a family member had while trying to use a computer, that person not having 100% use of their hands had an extremely difficult time navigating every day computer functions. The eye candy member brought this information to light during a development meeting and it was agreed that Project Alicia needed to be more than just a vocal command subset, and development of the project went into full swing.

We began to meet with family and friends and other disabled members of the community in order to fully understand some of the hardships that people face while attempting to do everyday tasks that some of us take for granted.

This project has become somewhat of a passion for us and it is our aim to improve the lives of many while enhancing the lives of everyone. By completing this project we not only get to help a lot of people, we are also able to develop the artificial intelligence engine needed for our future gaming projects and with some hard work we approach a new era in accessibility interfaces and Control of software and games.

So to answer the question what is project Alicia we say the answer is simple Project Alicia is a life changing Monument to software and game development subsystems. But more than that Alicia is an assistant, a tool, A helpful hand, an independence, that twinkle In a loved one's eyes, that smile on a loved one's face, and that moment when they realize what they couldn't do before with great ease now they can.

Why not, with the current level of technology why haven't there been any affordable advances in accessibility and control systems aimed at helping the disabled and handicapped navigate computers, and software.

There are numerous types of impairment that affect computer use. These include:

As Developers. We Have A Responsibility. To Make Our Products Accessible. For All Users.

We plan on not only developing this technology for use with computers and software but taking it a step further and adding this technology to the core subsystems of our future gaming and software projects. We feel that by adding this technology to our gaming systems we can bring an exciting new entertainment market to the disabled and handicapped.

But more than that isn't it time for a product like this to be introduced to the industry of software development, why shouldn't we embrace this technology as a universal solution to make life easier for those that struggle to enjoy using software and personal computers.

There are even plans to introduce this product to mobile devices for a total connectivity to your personal home network. With Alicia we can make a difference, we can make life easier and more convenient for all users of home and mobile technology.

We at The Eye Candy Initiative are calling out to all of you to help us realize this incredible project and to help us launch the software and gaming industry into the future by creating a new industry standard when it comes to accessibility interfaces and control subsystems.

And along the way we'll help a great many people take back or improve a part of their daily lives.

Here's a list of features we plan to develop for project Alicia please note the feature list here isn't complete and as we complete our funding requirements there will be many new features added with our stretch goals as we reach them.

Disability Protocols

Project Alicia also has some great secondary benefits.

The Eye Candy Initiative Not only want to develop this great and much needed application we also want to raise awareness about accessibility and assistive technologies. In addition we have developed concepts for a complete accessibility API and Engine which we believe will change the software industry forever. The Access Engine will allow accessibility and assistive protocols for a new level of plug n play development within the software industry. The Eye Candy Initiative will utilize this engine in all our future products.

We will distribute the Alicia API freely allowing other developers the ability to add accessibility to their software developments if the API stretch Goals Are Met. This allows us to help raise awareness and contribute to the development of accessibility systems in software.

By backing project Alicia you're not only helping us to develop the great digital assistant application and voice control interface you are also helping us to develop a much needed improvement to software and gaming control subsystems.

With this new interface system we're able to implement voice control to our gaming projects allowing for handicapped and disabled protocols to be integrated into our game develop.

We can also use this technology to create subsystems within our games to allow for voice control operations. This project allows us to develop a more advanced artificial intelligence engine for our games, this would allow our games AI subsystems to learn from user input to personalize game play and modify game output on the fly creating more complex interactions within the games. This is a much needed feature in the gaming industry and there have not been many advances in this type of technology.

We are the eye candy initiative, the eye candy initiative is a movement pertaining to a change in the way the development of games and software applications are realized. At the eye candy initiative we design and develop games and software applications, but what we really do is build the experiences and tell the stories that change the lives of the people who use our products.

At the eye candy initiative we pledge to never be compromised by the bottom line we won't just leave something on the cutting room floor because it doesn't work right but instead will fix it.

We will focus on the experience not the deadline and we will never forget getting there is just as important as what happens after, and that there needs to be something that happens next.

We will do our very best to bring your exciting, entertaining, and well developed software and games so that you can experience our products not just use them.

We will always remember we just develop the software and tell the stories it's you, that live them.

Member Name: Leon A Klasinski

Bio

A Gamer For Life! Leon has been gaming all his life and has always been drawn to the design of great games. For the past several years he has been working on the design of new software technology and been exploring the development of new concepts in the gaming industry. Game development and design is more than just a passion it is his life. Prior to beginning a long journey in the goal to create a truly magical fitting of development and design Leon began to notice that there was a trend in the industry. It seemed that a lot of game studios were milling out games left and right and that most were ok games but they were missing something, A Soul So To Speak. Most of the time the games either had stunning graphics and no real story development or tons of story and sub-par aesthetics. There needed to be a Complete Package Out There So He searched for it. He wanted to experience something truly remarkable and while some got close he never found that elusive piece of history. So He decided he would just have to make it.

He began to teach himself the tools needed to explore the goal he set out to finish. Then he started taking training and development classes and eventually decided to return to college and get professional training. Soaking up all he could about different game engines and development tools he began to start designing concepts for play systems and game mechanics. And over the last few years has developed storyline and game concepts that are sure to meld well and help him to achieve the goal he set out to of developing the perfect game.

Another area of study that caught his interest was artificial intelligence. He felt that if he could make a smarter game it would most certainly be a better game and he began to focus some attention to the field of study. He felt that if the A.I. Could actually learn then the application it was used in could be made to work better. And here we are The Eye Candy Initiative! We began developing concepts for a game engine with improved AI systems to Help Accomplish some of the things we want to implement into the games we make. A friend brought to the attention of Leon that the technology we were developing may have more uses then just gaming applications And Leon Began to explore the possibilities of other uses of the tech including the new Accessibilities Engine currently in development at Eye Candy.

A Firm believer that this type of tech can change the game industry as well as many other industries AI research and development remains a strong focus of Leon in his endeavor to bring to the public superior products and experiences.

He once said that " If we just make products and games that work we have failed what we set out to do, we have to make products and games that change the way those things are made in the first place" "It can never be just a product we make in fact, we don't make products at Eye Candy we make experiences and experiences can change people's lives".

It is Leon's Primary goal to provide the customer with something that changes their life in some way. He will not allow Sub-Standard Development, Or Investors to compromise the true vision or the capabilities of the IP and has decided the best course of action to ensure this is to adopt crowd funding as a primary source of development capitol fundraising for Eye Candy Projects.

"By using crowd funding to raise our capitol we can build a stronger community of users and in general a much better user experience. Our Community can share with us what they really want for features and we can give it to them without having to leave something on the cutting room floor because we have a deadline to meet from our investors". "We can develop and release standalone systems that have a purpose and a need to be developed while also filling a need within our larger systems to provide a feature for another project". "Ultimately we want to make gaming experiences and to change the gaming industry with the projects we develop, but if we can change people's lives for the better along the way there's nothing wrong with that."

Qualifications

Member Name: Osiris Sabastian Ravenwood

Bio

Osiris Ravenwood was the driving force behind the leap into AI development. Believing that the key to accomplish the tasks of the initiative was to build a state of the art smart engine based on AI technology. He began to develop the plans for the AI subsystems and is now the managing director of the AI program. Osiris strives to change the face of artificial intelligence technologies by pushing the envelope with innovative design concepts and a unique set of AI theories.

"Artificial Intelligence Is I Believe The Backbone Of Our Game Engine Program. If We Can Accomplish What We Are Setting Out To Achieve Here With the AI Sub-Systems We Can Create a Monster of an Engine and That Will Be Our Gift to the World"

Lately Osiris has been focusing on the development of the Project Alicia Platform which will fuel the development of our AI for our game engine and help to make the lives of the handicapped and disabled better through easier computer usage and home automation. There are future plans to develop AI hardware and Osiris will develop the AI operating System.

Osiris wants to at some point develop a complete Operating System based on the AI technology being developed here at The Eye Candy Initiative.

Qualifications

Member Name: Joanna "Joey" Kinney

Bio

Having been gaming her entire life, not only by herself, but also with friends from school, and as soon as internet games became prominent friends across the world. She always had an innate feeling of being a part of the development of games. Her passion never fizzled. From one game to another, sharing her experiences with friends.

In high school she wrote a report that when she grew up she wanted to become a Video Game Programmer.

At the end of her freshman year of University she was given an opportunity rare to sophomores. Her selected project was Accessibility in Gaming. This was back in 2004-2005 when accessibility didn't mean much in the gaming world. She is excited to bring her talents and knowledge in this field of study to the Project A.L.I.C.I.A. Team and is looking forward to assisting in the development of The Eye Candy Initiative's new Accessibility AI Engine.

While life has thrown her off course; she is here today ready and willing to share her skills and ideas with the world.

Joanna has play tested as a consumer for various companies.

Continues to play a variety of games.

"To me games are everything and everywhere. They teach you new things, they expand the way you see and interact with the world, your friends, and your family. Like an interactive book or movie. I don't view games as tearing people apart; I see them as bringing people closer together"

Qualifications

Member Name: Kimberly McDaniel Shewmaker

Bio

Kimberly McDaniel Shewmaker an artist at her core Kimberly is also an avid gamer and has always had a passion for game art development specifically Environmental Art. She loves to design and create new 3d worlds and environment concepts for the gaming projects here at Eye Candy. Kimberly began development of the Environment concepts for the flagship game project Revelations that is currently in development at ECI after being introduced to the project concepts by Lee Klasinski in 2010. Being a strong advocate of the development process we embrace at ECI she feels that the Revelations Project has the potential to revolutionize the gaming industry and change the way games are developed in the future.

"I Get So Excited When I'm Creating An Environmental Concept, The Thought that Someone Will Be Standing Here In This Spot Looking Out Over The New 3d World I have Dreamed Up, That's Why I Put Everything I Have Into The Design, I Allow Myself To Get Lost In The Very Place I'm Designing, It Has To Be Perfect, If It's Not Then It's Not Good Enough"

Kimberly also works with the Project Alicia team on feature concepts to help design a project that can change the user's lives. She is a strong advocate of the disabilities protocols being designed for the application and will often push for development of these kinds of features that help the disabled and handicapped to have a better quality of life. Often putting in the time needed to do the research and by meeting with the disabled to find out firsthand what kinds of features are needed or wanted in a product release.

Kimberly is a talented artist and extremely creative she will bring a new level of Environmental Artistry to the design of the games made at The Eye Candy Initiative and we feel that she can help Eye Candy achieve the level of quality we are striving to reach for. We are all very excited to see what strange new breathtaking worlds she will design for all of us to explore.

Qualifications

Member Name: Zaviar Hammond

Bio

Zaviar Hammond's creativity steams from his many years of game testing and wanting to create the perfect game. His interests lie not only in the gaming department of The Eye Candy Initiative, but to all the technical aspects where his creativity and concept ideas will apply. His Ideas have contributed to many of the functions that The Eye Candy Initiative is developing in regards to his concept designs in both the game design and Project A.L.I.C.I.A. Zaviar is an avid gamer and tech buff, but he is pushing for something new and innovating.

Zaviar has also been working with Lee Klasinski to better the concept behind the A.L.I.C.I.A. Project.

Qualifications

Member Name: Lynett Hammond

Bio

Lynett Hammond has been gaming since 2005 and loves to help people with just about anything in-game. She has worked in customer care and public relations for more than five years and loves working in this field. She loves to create events that bring people closer together and also make new friends and acquaintances.

"Event planning and informing people is what I live for. I love helping people and introducing the public to new developments."

She is a people person and is able to navigate almost every social networking site there is. Watch on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites for updates, information, and events from The Eye Candy Initiative from Lynett. If you have any question, just as Lynett. If she does not know the answer then she will find it in a timely fashion.

Qualifications

Member Name: Melinda Buck

She is the "Hard Ass" of the group. LoL Not really but Melinda will keep us on track when it comes to the money aspects of the project she has accounting and business management degrees and will keep us all on track financially with project goals. Her sole purpose is to see that everything gets budgeted correctly and she is a stickler for the by the book method of business. She will help us to make sure that the money is in the right spots and available to use when we need it!

Melinda is a firm believer in our Accessibility AI Engine and Project A.L.I.C.I.A. and what it can do for the software industry. She like most of us has family and friends that suffer from a disability or a handicap and she feels as we all do that this kind of accessibility needs to be developed and implemented in the software industry.

Qualifications

We believe that software and games should be an experience not a task or activity, not something you do just to pass the time but something you do to enrich your life.We strive to create exciting and immersive experiences.

We want you to feel, not just a witness, as the world unfolds before you. Most of all we want you to experience our products not just use them.

We also feel very strongly that everyone should get to experience our products and this is why we are trying to develop these kinds of systems so that the disabled and handicapped can enjoy our products as well. We hope that more companies begin to develop these types of systems allowing for easier use of mainstream computer products because the industry needs these types of systems as a standard.

Crowd funding allows us to have a direct relationship with the users of the products we make, and since there is little overhead we can develop more user requested features. There is no real "bottom line" and no investors breathing down our necks to get the product released. It's along these lines we've abandoned the typical developer/publisher model and placed our future in the hands of our users. We've embraced the crowd in every aspect. YOU are our publisher...and you are the best publisher we've ever worked with!

This process allows us to create the software and games exactly the way you want to see them. There is a purity of development when we can spend 100% of our efforts making the product with an open dialog throughout the process. We'll start with a strong vision of how we see the product developing, and from there we'll stay in sync with you, from concept through the execution of the ideas.

We're grateful for all the support and look forward to bringing you the kind of software and games that we all love to use and play.

Risks and Challenges

As you all know, we're not making widgets here. Artificial intelligence projects are very complex and complicated, but the entire team is dedicated to seeing this project completed. We don't foresee any reason or issue that might prevent the completion of this application, and are confident the application will release on schedule. As with all complex development there are always challenges that can come up to delay development. All the developers at The Eye Candy Initiative thrive in this type of environment and are committed to finishing this project on time.

One of our biggest challenges will be raising the awareness that this kind of product is a necessity. We can combat this challenge with your help by making sure people know about this project and others like it. The more people are aware of the lack of affordable accessibility software the more developers will design these types of systems. Please join us in not only raising awareness about the lack of affordable accessibility options in software but also the development of a new ground breaking accessibility and interface system for computers, software, and games. Together we can change the lives of a great many people and the standards of technology development. Our challenges lay are in the secondary goal of the development of a new AI Accessibility Engine for our future projects. While this is only a secondary goal we aim to develop a complete Ai subsystem in a hope to create a new standard in accessibility interfaces for the software and gaming industry.

Artificial intelligence projects are nothing new in the software and gaming industry and gaming companies have been trying for some time to improve the quality of their Ai systems. But for some reason that research and development has never been implemented in the form of an Accessibility Control Subsystem. A breakthrough like an Accessibility Interface and Control System would catapult accessibility in software to the next level.

The eye candy initiative feels that this type of system is long overdue we want to break the mold and stereotype of the conventional gamer. No longer should a disability hinder someone's ability to play a game or use a software program and we feel that we're up to the task of making this a reality. While we know we will succeed with our primary goal of creating a voice interface for computer and application usage and our digital assistant protocols we will strive to complete those important secondary goals. Should we not succeed in completing a new Accessibility Ai subsystem the research and development of such an interface will prove invaluable and we will not stop until this much needed subsystem is a reality.

Project A.L.I.C.I.A. by The Eye Candy Initiative.

Attribution/Source(s):

This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World due to its significant relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Eye Candy Initiative, and published on 2014/03/03 (Edit Update: 2021/09/01), the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity. For further details or clarifications, Eye Candy Initiative can be contacted at Contact Details. NOTE: Disabled World does not provide any warranties or endorsements related to this article.

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Cite This Page (APA): Eye Candy Initiative. (2014, March 3 - Last revised: 2021, September 1). Eye Candy Initiative: Project Alicia Accessibility and Interface System. Disabled World. Retrieved September 21, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/disability/investors/alicia.php

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