Tongue Drive System Goes Inside the Mouth to Improve Performance and User Comfort From: Georgia Tech - 02/20/2012 The Tongue Drive System is getting less conspicuous and more capable. Tongue Drive is a wireless device that enables people with high-level spinal cord injuries to operate a computer and maneuver an electrically powered wheelchair simply by moving their tongues. The newest prototype of the system allows users to wear an inconspicuous dental retainer embedded with sensors to control the system. The sensors track the location of a tiny magnet attached to the tongues of users. In earlier versions of the Tongue Drive System, the sensors that track the movement of the magnet on the tongue were mounted on a headset worn by the user. Read the entire article at: http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?nid=110351 Links: Maysam Ghovanloo http://www.ece.gatech.edu/about/personnel/bio.php?id=147 Tongue Drive: A Tongue-Operated Evironmental Controller http://www.ece.gatech.edu/research/labs/gt-bionics/Research3.shtml Driving with a Tongue http://pddnet.com/photos-of-the-day-driving-with-a-tongue-022112/?et_cid=2491312&et_rid=113317557 --- Tongue Drive System Goes Inside the Mouth to Improve Performance and User Comfort From: Georgia Tech News - 02/20/2012 By: Abby Vogel Robinson Georgia Tech researchers are developing the Tongue Drive System, a wireless device that enables people with spinal cord injuries to operate a computer and maneuver a wheelchair by moving their tongues. The system consists of a dental retainer embedded with sensors, which track the location of a tiny magnet attached to the user's tongue. "By moving the sensors inside the mouth, we have created a Tongue Drive System with increased mechanical stability and comfort that is nearly unnoticeable," says Georgia Tech professor Maysam Ghovanloo. The output signals from the sensors are wirelessly transmitted to an iPod or iPhone, and software installed on the iPod interprets the user's tongue commands by determining the relative position of the magnet with respect to the array of sensors. This information is used to control the movements of a cursor on a computer screen or the movements of a powered wheelchair. The researchers also have created an interface for the system that attaches to an electric wheelchair. "During the trials, users have been able to learn to use the system, move the computer cursor quicker and with more accuracy, and maneuver through the obstacle course faster and with fewer collisions," Ghovanloo says. Read the entire article at: http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?nid=110351