Virtual Mouse, an Invention to Help the Disabled
From: Gulf News (United Arab Emirates) - 06/05/2011
By: Rania Moussly 

Khalifa University computer engineering student Sultan Ahmad Sultan Al Sharif
has developed software that enables people with disabilities to control the
onscreen mouse of a laptop or desktop machine with the movement of their
eyes. The Virtual Mouse: Human Eye based Mouse Control program makes use of
two-dimensional (2D) face detection software and the camera embedded in
laptops and desktop computers. The software enables the camera to track users
while they look at the screen and follow eye movements to operate the mouse.
"2D face detection already exists, we just modified and upgraded it to
implement eye detection," Al Sharif says. The user closes one eye to perform
a click, either the left or right eye to perform a left or right click, and
closes both eyes to send the computer into sleep mode. "Sultan's method is
one form of human computer interaction, but using the eyes is very natural
because you must anyway look into a monitor to use a computer," says Khalifa
professor Harish Bhaskar. He notes that the software requires no special
equipment, which makes for easier implementation and wider accessibility. 

Read the entire article and view a video at:
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/education/virtual-mouse-an-invention-to-help-the-disabled-1.817366

Related article:
Mouseless
http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/mouseless/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHGODp0b8Ks