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Don's Voice

Don’s Voice is the true story of Don and Lorraine Moir, a farm family debilitated by ALS.

Run time: 6:29

A man with ALS tells his wife "I love you" for the first time in 15 years, through Not Impossible Labs technology.

Don’s Voice is the true story of Don and Lorraine Moir, a farm family who struggled to survive Don's ALS diagnosis. After hearing Founder Mick Ebeling on the radio, Lorraine asked if Not Impossible Labs could create a digital solution for her husband who has not been able to speak since he was fitted with a ventilator in 1999. Not Impossible Labs found a way to give Don his voice back.

The Absurdity

Diagnosed with ALS in 1995, week by week Don Moir lost more of his motor-neurological functions. On May 21, 1999, Don was fitted with a ventilator. He hasn't spoken since.

The Goal

Don communicates via a letterboard, a simple sheet of paper with the alphabet divided into quadrants. Word by word, ALS has forced Don to communicate silently through individual letters for over a decade. We needed to give Don a voice.

The Solution

Develop an Interface

The Not Impossible team, led by volunteer Javed Gangjee, utilized its know-how, HP hardware, and SpeakYourMind Foundation software to develop a simple interface that replicated Don's paper letter board. It uses eye tracking technology and allowed Don to communicate on his own for the first time since he lost his ability to speak.

Life with Technology

Through this simple technology, Don independently wrote a love letter to his wife and was able to audibly say "I love you, Lorraine” for the first time in 15 years.

Investors + Partners

Special Thanks to:

 

 

Javed Gangjee, Dan Bacher and the SpeakYourMind team for their tireless efforts to give a voice to those who need one.

 

 

HP for believing in Not Impossible and our commitment in Technology for the Sake of Humanity®.

 

 

Alan Yu, Todd Herskovitz and Maggie Hughes from YouTube, and the entire team at Google who were huge advocates and supporters of Not Impossible & the Don's Voice Project.