Many people preserve their babies ' priceless first smiles, words
or steps on video, but Professor Deb Roy of Massachussets Institute of Technology, is taking parental attentiveness to a whole new level.
Roy is recording almost all his new son 's waking hours in an ambitious attempt to use
the data to unravel the mystery of how humans naturally acquire speech skills.
He will pay particular attention to how his son, 9 months old, learns early words and early
grammatical constructions.Roy and his wife will record up to 12-14 hours a day!
Roy 's vast recording and analysis effort, known as "The Human Speechome Project"
(speech + home), will gather some 400,000 hours of material over three years.
To conduct the Human Speechome Project, Roy has installed cameras and microphones throughout his house. To retain control over privacy, every
room is equipped with a video-off, audio-off and an "oops" button to erase previously
recorded data.
Professor Roy's son will have the ultimate in family albums recording his first three years....everything from nappy changing to teething, first solids to potty training will be recorded. The down-side? A family electricity bill which has literally quadrupled since all the equipment was installed!
June 2006
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