The iPad As Communication Device
In the past year the New York Times has published a number of articles on technologies that are relatively close to the field of eye tracking if not firmly rooted in the industry itself.
With new technologies, we have see more and more devices that can be customized for various applications, and eye and head tracking is one of them. Those of us in these industries know that communicative applications are common, but here at Eye Tracking Update we’ve already seen a number of articles focusing on the various strengths of Apple’s iPad when it comes to using it as a communicative device.
In a recent post, the New York Times calls the iPad a therapeutic marvel for the disabled. The article tells the story of Owen Cain, a 7-year-old boy with a debilitating motor neuron disease he’s had since infancy. He doesn’t have the strength to control a computer mouse, but one day when a nurse propped up her boyfriend’s iPad for Owen to use, she was startled as he aimed his left pointer finger, touched it to the screen, and opened a program called Gravitarium, an app for the iPad that plays music while users move around a series of stars on the screen. Owen’s parents had tried a number of computerized communication devices but the iPad was the first one that worked on the first try.
The iPad, the article says, has become a successful therapeutic tool for those with disabilities and while studies on the possibilities of the iPad are just beginning, it’s no doubt that many are using the device to aid in communication.
One speech pathologist at Walter Reed Army Medical center has been using text-to-speech apps to give his patients a way to communicate, the article cites several examples of parents with autistic children using the device to help with basic skills in addition to communication.
We have yet to see much news having to do with eye tracking apps built for iPad, but it is likely that they will start popping up within time, especially after media coverage on how helpful the tablet can be for disabled individuals.
It’s unusual for a mainstream device to be accepted widely by the disabled. The article says it’s far more common that items are designed originally for the disabled and then adapted for general use. But the seemingly diverse system has made for a new demographic that’s come around perhaps as an afterthought.
Here’s to seeing some eye tracking apps in the near future!
IPad Opens World to a Disabled Boy
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