Eye Tracking May Provide Promising Solution for Stephen Hawking
Imagine being confined to a wheelchair, unable to move your arms or legs. Approximately 5.6 million people in the U.S. who suffer from some form of paralysis cope with this limitation every day. Whether it is caused by a neurological disease, a spinal cord injury, or a stroke, paralyzation inhibits mobility and impedes the ability to interact and communicate with the world around you.
Recent technological advances, however, have given people with disabilities the chance to overcome some of these challenges and achieve things that were never possible before. A prime example of someone who has attained the unthinkable in the face of a devastating condition is the world-renowned scientist, Stephen Hawking.
As a theoretical physicist, author, and professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, Hawking has an incredible résumé of accomplishments, but perhaps the most astounding is that he has done it all even with a degenerative motor neuron disease that has slowly diminished his ability to move or even speak. A brief video created by the BBC described the amazing technologies that have made it possible for Hawking to continue to attend conferences and lectures and communicate despite the progression of his condition.
Sam Blackburn is a graduate assistant who has taken the role as Hawking’s “right-hand man,” if you will. His primary job is to design and maintain the software applications that allow Hawking to write, speak, and travel. Hawking’s current assistive technology includes a synthesizer that turns typed letters into speech and one-of-a-kind wheelchair that not only moves in a horizontal manner, but also vertically up and down. The synthesizer works with an assistive communication system that uses a clicking device to select letters on a communication software application. Hawking used to be able to use a hand held clicker, but his diminished motor control eventually made this impossible. Blackburn constructed an IR sensor that detects the cheek movement of Hawking’s still expressive face to be used as a clicker instead. It was a simple solution made from an LED, photo diode, and paper clip super glued to Hawking’s glasses. This, however, will not be a long term solution, as Hawking’s ability to control his facial movement continues to decrease. Blackburn is looking into more technologies. “I am trying to set up as many demos as possible for other technologies, including eye tracking technology that produces the possibility of a very simple interface,” he said in the interview. This is proof of the promise that eye tracking technology holds as a powerful assistive technology solution. If someone as well known as Stephen Hawking begins to use it, it could have a strong impact on the visibility and awareness of the industry.
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