Eye gaze communication

 

Eye Gaze Communication

Eye-gaze or eye-tracking is a way of accessing your computer, tablet or communication aid using a mouse that you control with your eyes. A special camera attached to the computer follows your eyes to see where you are looking on the screen. You can then select the item you are looking at by dwelling (staring at the screen for a length of time), blinking or clicking with a switch.

 

Because eye-gaze acts as a mouse it can be used in more-or-less the same way as a standard mouse. Therefore people who use eye-gaze can play games, send and receive email, write text messages, draw and paint, make music, watch TV and anything else that is possible with a standard mouse. 

Eye-gaze computers are often extended through special software to become communication aids and as devices used to control a smart home. 

Eye-gaze is typically used by people with a physical disability that would prevent them from being able to use a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen or specially-adapted alternative device. People with clear speech can usually use speech recognition instead of eye-gaze, but increasingly people with speech are choosing to combine the two. 

Eye-gaze isn’t suitable for everybody as it works best with bright, open eyes with accurate movements and reasonable vision. Some people who can’t use eye-gaze will use switch scanning, and some people will combine the two access methods. 

At the time of writing there are around half a dozen companies producing eye-tracking cameras intended for use by disabled people. Finding the best tracker depends on the student, their environment, and the activities they wish to do with it. The process can be a little complicated and we’d always recommend you seek support from an experienced professional who keeps up-to-date with the latest technology.

Follow this link for a table comparing the features of the most popular eyegaze trackers(opens in new tab). This will help you to match the optimum tracker to suit the individual, their environment and the activities they wish to use it for.

If you have access to an Android phone or tablet and want to try a basic communication system using a primitive form of eye-gaze then you can download the free Look to Speak from the Google Play Store.  

Users of the newer iPad Pro, iPhone X, XS or XR can try the free Hawkeye app which you can use to browse the internet using your eyes. This is only available on iPads and iPhones with the TrueDepth camera.