The proposed research is for a critical improvement to the Eyegaze System, which, through eyetracking, allows people to operate a computer by eye movement while looking at a monitor. The current system accurately tracks the location of the user's gazepoint, but requires the user to maintain his head in a fixed position. The objective of this project is to develop a 'headtracker' component for people with motor disabilities who have limited control of head motion. The device will be unobtrusive, employing a remote video camera to sense the eye. In Phase I LC Technologies demonstrated the feasibility of tracking head motion over an 8-inch range, in real time, with a video camera. We wrote preliminary image-processing and video-control algorithms and software, and we demonstrated effective software and hardware operation on a laboratory breadboard system. In Phase II LC Technologies will develop a prototype commercial headtracker, a unique, user-friendly system placing no burden on the user for special head positioning. The availability of a headtracker will expand the market for eye-controlled computers, making them useful for people with a variety of disabilities resulting from cerebral palsy, high spinal cord injuries, head injuries, strokes, and other neurological disorders.
