Tracking gives voice to the mute
From: Australian IT - 06/13/2006
By: Barbara Gengler
 
An ambitious eye-tracking project is designed to help people living with
disabilities be more independent. 

Researchers say the use of eye-tracking, can transform the lives of tens of
thousands of people. 

Eye tracking is a technique used in science, psychology, human-computer
interaction and other areas. Most eye trackers use contrast to locate the
centre of the pupil and infrared beams to create a corneal likeness along
with the triangulation of both to determine a fixation point, but the setups
vary greatly.  

A basic eye-tracking system is made up of a camera, a computer and software
that provides an efficient interface between the two. In an expensive system
the camera uses an internal light source to create reflections on the eye.  

For example, the camera tracks these reflections and uses them to move a
cursor on the screen. 

COGAIN hopes to provide the same functionality with lower performance, using
a webcam and ambient light. "It's a big project and it's novel, in that it
brings together all the interested parties," says Kari-Jouko Raiha, professor
of computer science at the Finnish University of Tempere, and IST-funded
COGAIN project co-ordinator.  

Raiha says the most extreme example of this technology's use is its ability
to give voice to people who can only communicate with their eyes.  

The researchers say the project will try to develop technology for people
suffering from such illnesses, who are still mobile.  

Read this article at:
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,19423020^15321^^nbv^,00.html?from=rss

Links:
COGAIN - Eye Trackers
http://www.cogain.org/eyetrackers/

COGAIN - Eye Typing Systems
http://www.cogain.org/links/eyetyping

Click Where You Look
http://www.youris.com/video.cfm?video=34&rubrique=6

An affordable future for eye tracking in sight
http://istresults.cordis.lu/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/BrowsingType/Features/id/81171

Eye Tracking Research & Applications
http://www.e-t-r-a.org/exhibits/

Kari-Jouko Räihä
http://www.cs.uta.fi/~kjr/eng/