The New Tobii S32

This week a student and I logged onto the internet via her Tobii C-Eye to look for some images of her favorite books to put on her "my favorites page".  Her default home page is set to the Tobii website and we saw the new Tobii S32 displayed.

The SLP came over to join us are we looked at the S32 (ok, Tobii, could you maybe get a little more creative with the naming?  My students and I will happily help you out.) 

The Tobii S32 looks to be an upgrade from the old and discountined LEO from ATI (before it was Tobii ATI), as it combines recorded speech with environmental controls.  

Here are some specs:

• weight 2 pounds
• about 12 by 9.5 by 1.5 inches (a little bigger than a sheet of paper in length and height)
• built in handle and a carrying strap
• study and durable, can be cleaned with alcohol is needed
• 192 "levels"!!!! (They call them cards - that is so awesome, we have maybe 2 dozen Go Talk 20+ boards for one user, which means constant re-recording, this eliminates that.)
• automatically recognizes overlays made by the SymbolMate software
• holds 60 hours of recorded speech
• allows visual scenes
• 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 buttons per page with interchangable keyguards
• allows sequential button ("context based speech") hits to build language (think Minspeak, I guess)
• 1 or 2 switch scanning, with or without audible prompts, with keypad lock to prevent using the touch feature while scanning
• built in (TIRA enhanced) IR (use the S32 to control anything an infrared remote control can run like a TV, stereo,DVD player, IR toys, the computer via a IR adapter on your computer)
• two switch OUTPUT ports so the device can be used as a switch to run switch adapted toys, tools and appliances (adapted toys, switch adapted scissors, etc.); these switch ports can be direct, latch or timed
• mini USB port
• SymbolMate board creation software allows controlling the settings on multiple S32s and transferring boards from SymbolMate to the S32
• share overlays at www.pagesetcentral.com (same site for sharing Tobii C-8, C-12 and C-eye boards)
• interchangable, durable, rubber like, colored end caps for the device (like the other Tobii devices)
• runs on four AA batteries, rechargable AAs or an AC adapter

Converting from the Austrialian prices it looks like the cost is about $1400 US dollars for touch only and $1870 US dollars for the scanning version and it comes with the SymbolMate software.  These prices seem comparable to the AMDi Tech/Scan Pro devices (although none of them has ALL of the features of the S32).