Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

brock_lee t1_ix07w0y wrote

> She recited the alphabet until Bauby blinked at the correct letter, and recorded the 130-page manuscript letter by letter over the course of two months, working three hours a day, seven days a week.

I bet they also developed some shortcuts, too, like when the next word would be obvious: "Is the next word 'the'?" or a character name. "She asked Gwe..." "So, Gwendolyn, right?"

1,736

chumloadio OP t1_ix08ed9 wrote

Good theory. They also used a custom-ordered alphabet arranged by frequently used letters.

1,257

JBatjj t1_ix0fdnr wrote

Like a compression algorithm. Blink once quick for e, once quick and one long for a, two quick for r

378

F4L2OYD13 t1_ix0iwap wrote

what we aren't considering is how much blinking would need to occur to discuss and agree on that system

294

JBatjj t1_ix0yxgv wrote

Because you show a diagram at all times and the blinker has no choice but to use it...

109

F4L2OYD13 t1_ix2kkgr wrote

yes I'm sure he wasn't a part of orchestrating the system. They just realized they had a captive writer and forced a book on him.

42

Officer_Hops t1_ix19st1 wrote

To be fair it’s not like the blinker has to agree, they don’t have much of a choice.

38

zKarp t1_ix3bjkc wrote

He could just close his eye and fall asleep.

1

kytheon t1_ix0kjqu wrote

Like Morse code lol, would be faster

41

DMala t1_ix2nvlc wrote

That's always my first thought when this story comes up. In the same situation (assuming I could persevere at all) my first request would be for a table of Morse. The tedium of going through the alphabet over and over just seems like the torture.

23

drekwithoutpolitics t1_ix3nd2t wrote

I could see Morse being harder to get started and way easier to get discouraged if I’m already quite disabled and wanting to write a novel.

Someone mentioned they had an alphabet ordered by letter frequency, so I could see the two of them optimizing quickly.

Like, at the beginning of a sentence,

“S” blink

Ok… it’s not another S. “A…” no blink “E,” etc. as a simple example.

5

JBatjj t1_ix0z2sa wrote

True. Others would be even faster though

3

stoneman9284 t1_ix16ntz wrote

It says the recited the alphabet. That doesn’t sound like coded blink sequences.

6

JBatjj t1_ix17mc2 wrote

The wikipedia article says "26-letter alphabet according to the frequency of use"

7

stoneman9284 t1_ix18fgz wrote

Right. I interpret that to mean she recited the “alphabet” like a-e-s-t-etc instead of a-b-c-d-etc

17

JBatjj t1_ix3lies wrote

Oh ya, I agree with you. My comment was more what you would do if you actually followed a compression algorithm tree. Idk I was really high when I commented.

1

abanabee t1_ix1ct9r wrote

Yes! As a speech therapist myself, we put the alphabet in a grid based on letter frequency. Then you point to each row and then across the columns to get the letter.

42

PlaugeofRage t1_ix21zdi wrote

I would have thought a 5x5 array with e separate would be quick go row then column.

5

Careful_Yannu t1_ix28uw3 wrote

Honestly my vague memories of first year programming were suggesting a binary search (first half of the alphabet or second, first half of your subsequent selection or second) but a grid is much faster.

7

Schemen123 t1_ix2giwg wrote

Trees are much faster, they only need to store what's actually there.

A matrix only works better when its full.

Of course its way easier to understand

2

pcrcf t1_ix17pi7 wrote

Why not use Morse code?

24

SigmaGrooveJamSet t1_ix2185x wrote

Not a bad idea. People do sometimes use morse code in adaptive devices. Some computers have had straws that someone paralyzed from the neck could blow or suck on in morse code to type. But it typically isn't used for people with locked in syndrome for a number of reasons

1 any message system would have to be easy to learn for the user and his caregivers and family and friends to learn. An alphabet board can be learned in minutes but morse code could take weeks.

2 Sometimes people with locked in syndrome only have some of the muscles of their eyes fully functional and these can fatigue. Its easier to do one or two inputs for letters at the slower pace than morse code which would require rapid accurately timed blinks. Jean Dominique actually had the incomplete form and had some small eye face and neck movement as well as describing being able to wiggle his limbs in the book.

3 in some people with locked in syndrome the eyelid control is so poor that they cannot open or close their eyes fully. In this case the only movement they have that is reliably easy to see is looking up. It is extremely hard for even able bodied people to use this movement timed with morse code.

There have been improvements a knock code is most often used today. The letters are in a grid and the row is selected by saying the first letter then that row is read off. Also it gives time for the interlocutor to guess the word in between letters potentially speeding up the process.

28

anarchyreigns t1_ix293s3 wrote

And the most obvious deterrent to me is that it would be exhausting to blink out a sentence, one letter at a time, in Morse code. It would be much easier physically to blink “yes” to the correct letter as read out by his assistant.

15

OsamaBinFuckin t1_ix0q9l6 wrote

Or she wrote most/all of it but it would be unethical and illegal to claim it as his.

So she got smart.

12

WatdeeKhrap t1_ix2x2cv wrote

They did, there's a movie with the same name and they depict the process

2

Schemen123 t1_ix2gbgb wrote

Yep. you only need 5 blinks to define any letter and like autocorrect you only need a few letters per word.

Still a massive undertaking!

1