Eye-Controlled Computer Operation
From: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft - 09/2006

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering
collaborated with industry partners to develop a system that enables a
computer user to control a mouse through eye movements. The Eye-Controlled
Interaction (EYCIN) system is designed to provide paraplegics with greater
access to PCs, and enable maintenance technicians to click through menus
while their hands remain free. A camera captures a user's pupil movements,
which a software program then relays to the computer quickly enough so that
the movements of the mouse pointer are fluid. The motion is fairly easy to
calculate; the principal challenge is clicking the mouse. The researchers
created sensitive areas on the display that users can activate by fixing
their gaze on them for a certain period of time. A button on the screen
changes color twice before it clicks, indicating to the user whether the
command has registered. The small jerks of eye motion, or microcascades,
presented a major challenge to the researchers, requiring them to develop a
filtering system to prevent them from being relayed to the computer so the
mouse pointer would not flit erratically around the screen. 

Read the entire description at:
http://www.fraunhofer.de/fhg/EN/press/pi/2006/09/ResearchNews92006Topic6.jsp

Link:
Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart
http://www.iao.fraunhofer.de/index_e.hbs