Could the computer mouse become obsolete? Controlling cursers with... your eyes!
A new device developed by European researchers could soon help millions of people who suffer from conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's and muscular dystrophy interact with their computers and surroundings using just their eyes. The device could also help amputees and people with spinal cord injuries. The nifty piece of technology, designed by researchers from Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, can cleverly work out exactly where a person is looking by tracking their eye movements, thus allowing them to control an on-screen cursor in the same way it can be controlled with a computer mouse. So far the team has showed that the technology, presented in the Journal of Neural Engineering, can allow users to play a game without using a handset, browse the Web and write emails. The device is made up of two fast video game console cameras that are attached to a pair of glasses outside of the line of vision. The cameras continually take pictures of the eye to work out where the pupil is pointing which allows the researchers to use a set of calibrations to work out exactly where a person is looking on the screen. To boot, the researchers can also use more detailed calibrations to work out how far into the distance they were looking. This finding could one day help people control an electronic wheelchair simply by looking where they want to go, or equally a robotic prosthetic arm. The commercially viable device uses just one watt of power and can transmit data wirelessly over Wi-Fi or via USB into any Windows or Linux computer. The system also allows users to click on an item on the screen using their eyes, instead of a mouse button. Previous attempts at replicating the finger click have involved getting users to stare at an icon for a prolonged period or to blink, but blinking is not an ideal solution as it is an unintentional involuntary action. This time the researchers programmed the device to recognise a simple voluntary wink for a mouse click. Dr Aldo Faisal from Imperial College London said: 'Crucially, we have achieved two things: we have built a 3D eye tracking system hundreds of times cheaper than commercial systems and used it to build a real-time brain machine interface that allows patients to interact more smoothly and more quickly than existing invasive technologies that are tens of thousands of times more expensive. This is frugal innovation; developing smarter software and piggy-backing existing hardware to create devices that can help people worldwide independent of their healthcare circumstances.'For more information, please visit:Imperial College London:http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/
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