History
In 1994, the Institute for Interventional Informatics (I3), under the direction of Dr. Dave Warner, began working on the development of an inexpensive device capable of capturing EMG signals from a user in order to control a computer. Modeled after a similar, but much more costly device,V1.0 BIOMUSE, the result was a more efficient, compact, and most importantly, much less expensive device called TNG-1 (pronounced: Thing One). Software was needed to take the input from TNG-1 and render it into computer commands. Bio-enviornmental Control (BEC), written by Joh Johannsen was the software designed for the task in 1992. Shortly thereafter it was replaced with another program written by Johannsen called Neat Software. Neat Software was a MS-DOS program and ran on '386-compatible PCs. It was limited in flexibility, and given the inherent limitations of DOS, work began on a Java version. The Java version improved the user interface and allowed Neat Software to run on any Java-enabled browser. However, because the Java code used native methods to implement the COM port-related functions, as the JDK increased security-related restrictions, browsers were prevented from low-level COM port access. Without COM port access, Neat Software was cut off from the sensor signals from TNG-1.
While speaking at a 1994 telemedicine conference in Syracuse, Dr. Warner met Ed Lipson, SU professor of physics, faculty associate for the Northeast Parallel Architecture Center (NPAC), and a member of the SUNY Health Science Center's telemedicine planning committee. After Dr. Warner was awarded the Nason Fellowship at Syracuse University in 1995 he set up a research facility, The Center for Really Neat Research (CRNR), and began collaborating with Professor Lipson. While at SU Dave Warner also met Yuh-Jye Chang, a programming theory doctoral student and 1996 Java Cup International award winner, who began to update and improve the functionality of Neat Software. It was soon decided to rewrite the software from the ground up and NeatTools was born.
NeatTools was much more flexible and expandable than its predecessor. It provided a generic way for users to configure any input device without the need for technical coding ability. In conjunction with inexpensive sensors, and custom-built rigs, it allowed researchers at the CRNR to create custom computer interface for their clients rapidly and simply. Once created, these NeatTools programs could be changed and configured by the end-user. Professor Lipson and Dr. Warner also formed MindTel, LLC as the commercial entity for the development of hardware and software to aid their research. In 1998 Professor Lipson and Paul Gelling developed TNG-3 (and later TNG-3B), a 16-channel device that can receive both analog and digital signals (8 each). This was an improvement over TNG-2, which had only four analog channels. TNG-3B expanded the capabilities of NeatTools by allowing the connection of a variety of sensors, including switches, potentiometers, pressure sensors, accelerometers--basically anything capable of producing a variable resistance. With TNG-3B, up to eight analog and eight digital signals can be used as inputs to NeatTools.
NeatTools has been patched, updated, and revised over the years. Originally developed under Windows 95, it still performs under Windows Vista. NeatTools became an open-source software project in 2008 to help renew interest and further development of this truly remarkable software.
