Seriously ill kids share feelings on-line

October 27, 1995
Web posted at: 1:40 a.m. EDT

From Business Correspondent Steve Young

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- This is a story of new technology and old-fashioned charity. The technology is nothing short of the most advanced multi-media computer network in the world. And the first application is nothing short of heart-warming.

Mikey Butler, 15, was recently on-line with 12-year-old Desmond Nisa. Unlike most youths in cyberspace, however, their conversation wasn't limited to frivolous topics such as video games or movies. They were discussing something more serious, something that, unfortunately, they have in common -- their illnesses.

The two boys are among the first to use Starbright, an advanced communications system built with the backing of movie director Steven Spielberg and millions of dollars in technology from Intel, Sprint, U.B. Networks and the software company Worlds.

Mikey and Desmond can see each other on their computer screens. (710K QuickTime movie)From Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, Mikey asks Desmond, who is in Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California, why he's in the hospital.

"I have bone cancer," Desmond says.

"I have cystic fibrosis," Mikey tells him. "It's kind of a lung disease."

"Are you in the hospital a lot?"

"Yeah."

Some children's doctors participating in the pilot think the technology may help the children get better faster by breaking down their sense of isolation. It will also let them help each other when there are no hospital staff members around to lean on.

Dr. William Cohen , director of the Child Development Unit at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, says those moments of interchange can make a big difference in a child's treatment. (145K AIFF sound or 145K WAV sound)

"There may be a young person at age 14 or 15, who is in the middle of cancer treatment at eleven o'clock at night, who's feeling overwhelmed or anxious. They have the ability to go on-line to Stanford, California, for instance, and talk to another young person."

Intel and the other companies hope that the trial will help identify new commercial applications, because the growth of video-conference technology has been slow. "Slow, and then all of a sudden you get into the acceleration phase," says Avram Miller of Intel. "I think we're probably pretty close to that."

When it goes on-line officially next month, Starbright will link kids and hospitals in Palo Alto, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, and Atlanta. Later, the technology test will expand to Holland and the United Kingdom.

"You excited about going home anytime?" Mikey asks.

"Yeah," Desmond replies, smiling.

"I hope so," Mikey says.

The system will link gravely-ill children across the country, and will show them that they are not alone.

Seriously ill kids share feelings on-line

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