A new system makes it possible to guide the computer mouse with your eyes. The technology is designed to facilitate the task of maintenance technicians and make it easier for paraplegics to work at the PC. A software program interprets the user’s pupil movements.
The “Eye-Controlled Interaction” system (EYCIN) developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart in cooperation with industrial partners tracks the human user’s eye movement and transmits it to the mouse pointer on the monitor. A camera observes the movement of the pupils from a distance of up to one meter; a software program calculates and transfers the coordinates of the area viewed. It all happens so quickly that the mouse pointer moves smoothly.
The engineers have invested a tremendous amount of meticulous work in the new eye-controlled interaction system. One of the problems they faced were the miniature jerk-like movements, or microsaccades, that the eye constantly makes.