Martine Kempf is a French computer scientist who is known for inventing the Katalavox in 1985,[1] a computer-based voice activation system.
During her years as a student, Kempf was deeply moved by the challenges faced by German teenagers who were born without arms due to their mother's use of thalidomide during their pregnancies.
Kempf reasoned that a voice activation system would allow those affected with physical difficulties to drive cars.
[3] After teaching herself electronics with books and magazines in university, Martine Kempf designed a cutting-edge speech recognition system.
Martine Kempf's innovation, the breakthrough voice recognition microcomputer named Katalavox, allowed surgeons to guide and operate surgical microscopes with ease using basic spoken instructions.