Martine Kempf facts for kids
Martine Kempf is a clever French computer scientist. She is famous for inventing the Katalavox in 1985. This was a special computer system that could understand and respond to spoken commands, like a voice activation system.
Early Life and Big Ideas
Martine Kempf was born in 1951 in Dossenheim-Kochersberg, France. Her parents were Jean-Pierre Kempf and Brigitte Maguerite Klockenbring Kempf.
From 1981 to 1983, Martine studied astronomy at the University of Bonn in Germany. While there, she became very interested in how electronics, computer parts (hardware), and computer programs (software) work.
During her studies, Martine met German teenagers who were born without arms. This was because their mothers had taken a medicine called thalidomide during pregnancy. Martine felt deeply for them. She thought that a voice-controlled system could help people with physical challenges drive cars.
She also realized this voice system could help in microsurgery. Surgeons could use their voice to control magnifying tools during delicate operations. It could even be used to control a car with spoken commands, like a mobile phone.
Family Legacy and New Inventions
Martine Kempf's father, Jean-Pierre Kempf, became paralyzed in his legs from polio when he was two years old. He loved mechanics and built his own car. He changed it so he could drive it himself.
His special car design became very popular. Many people with paralysis or missing limbs wanted similar cars. Jean-Pierre started his own company to build these adapted cars. His company became the top maker of driving aids in France. It also became well-known in other European countries.
Jean-Pierre invented the digital accelerator ring and a special hand brake. These became standard hand controls for adapted cars in France. He kept creating new driving solutions for people with disabilities. He could adapt almost any vehicle until he passed away on April 10, 2002.
Creating the Katalavox
Martine Kempf wanted to start her own company in France. But in 1985, she could not get a loan from the French government. So, she moved to Silicon Valley in the United States. There, she started a company that adapted surgical microscopes.
In the mid-1990s, she became a supplier for her father's company. She then restarted his company in France, called KEMPF SAS. Martine Kempf also established KEMPF Inc. She took over her father's important work of helping people with disabilities drive.
Martine Kempf is currently the CEO of KEMPF Inc. She is also the president of KEMPF SAS and the founder of Kempf Beijing Technology Co Ltd. KEMPF Inc. changes vehicles like trucks, vans, minivans, SUVs, cars, and sports cars for drivers with disabilities. KEMPF SAS and Kempf Beijing Technology Co Ltd. are the company's branches in Europe and China.
While at university, Martine Kempf taught herself electronics by reading books and magazines. She then designed a very advanced speech recognition system.
Her amazing invention was a voice recognition microcomputer called Katalavox. This small computer allowed surgeons to easily guide and use surgical microscopes with simple spoken words. It could also help people with disabilities control their electric wheelchairs using their voice.
The Katalavox looks like a small box and weighs about five pounds. It responds to commands like "right," "left," "zoom in," or "zoom out" in just 0.008 of a second. The Katalavox remembers the user's voice even when it's turned off.
Martine Kempf created the Katalavox by changing human voice signals (analog) into computer signals (digital). This invention is used by the Institute of Eye Microsurgery in Moscow, Rothschild Clinic in Paris, Stanford University Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic. Even NASA is testing the Katalavox in space shuttles to control cameras.
