Making Eye-tracking Technologies More Affordable For People With Disabilities

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Making Eye-tracking Technologies More Affordable For People With

Disabilities

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=41014

An ambitious five-year project will attempt to make eye-tracking

technologies more affordable for people with disabilities and extend

the potential use of the devices to enable users to live more

independently.

The Communication by Gaze Interaction (COGAIN) project will examine

current state-of-the-art technologies, develop new software standards

to extend the available products and research new applications for

the technology based on end-users' real needs.

" It's a big project and it's novel in that it brings together all the

interested parties, " says Kari-Jouko Räihä, Professor of Computer

Science at the Finnish University of Tampere and IST-funded COGAIN

project coordinator.

It's also important. Eye tracking technologies could transform the

lives of tens of thousands of people across Europe. The most extreme

example of how this technology is used is its ability to give voice

to people who are 'locked-in', people who can only move their eyes

and only communicate with their gaze, says Räihä. " But it also has

applications for people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis [ALS],

also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, or Cerebral Palsy, or Multiple

Sclerosis [MS]. "

Currently state-of-the-art eye tracking equipment is very advanced,

with an extremely high spatial and temporal resolution - it can

detect tiny movements in millisecond intervals. " The problem is that

this equipment is very expensive - about €20,000 for a top-of-the-

range system, " says Räihä. COGAIN hopes to develop new equipment - in

cooperation with manufacturers - that can provide sufficient

resolution at a reasonable cost.

The basic eye-tracking system consists of a camera, a computer and

software to provide an interface between the two. In an expensive

system the camera uses an internal light source to create reflections

on the eye. The camera tracks these reflections and uses them to move

a cursor on the screen, for example.

COGAIN hopes to provide the same functionality, though at a lower

performance, using an ordinary Web cam and ambient light.

But the project plans to do more. Currently eye-tracking systems are

tied to proprietary software, which means that every new application

must be written for a particular piece of controlling software.

COGAIN wants to create standard control software so applications can

be developed by anybody.

This is a key development. One of COGAIN's aims is to develop new

applications. This could include new types of text entry. " Currently

most text entry is done using a 'soft keyboard'. Essentially it's a

picture of a keyboard and users move the cursor along until they find

the right letter, " says Räihä.

But another system developed by one project partner, the University

of Cambridge, uses a type of predictive text, where letters move

across the screen and users fix their gaze on the letters they

want. " It's an unusual system, and it takes a little training to get

used to it, but users can enter text at 20 words a minute once they

become familiar with the system. That's very fast, " says Räihä.

He adds that the application is hard to imagine if you don't see it

in action. " But think of all the other potential applications for

this technology that we just haven't thought about, or imagined yet.

The potential is enormous and COGAIN aims to develop that. "

The project's partners already have some ideas. Software that could

control heating and lighting through eye-tracking technology and a PC

is one possible application. " We currently have a specialist group

within the project looking at environmental controls, " says Räihä. He

adds that they are also examining the potential for controlling a

wheelchair through eye-movements. This could change lives, for the

better.

The project began in September 2004 and the team spent the first year

establishing the current state of the market and creating links

between all the different stakeholders. " So far we've held several

meetings to build up networking between the various partners in the

consortium, " says Räihä. " We've also held our first COGAIN camp,

which brought researchers and manufacturers into contact with end-

users. It was a very interesting meeting and the researchers gained a

new respect and understanding for the needs of people with

disabilities. "