Within 10 minutes, the disabled boy knew enough about the I4Control device to scroll through pages on a computer screen, write with a text editor and draw simple pictures.
Ever since that successful experiment, the Czech scientists who developed I4Control have won prestigious awards and found a company interested in starting pilot production of the device, basically a mouse replacement, this year.
Using a tiny, black-and-white video camera mounted on an eyeglasses frame, I4Control opens the computer world to disabled people whose motor skills are seriously impaired. With it, a computer user can drag a cursor anywhere on a screen by merely moving one eye. A stable gaze or long blink stops the cursor in place; the timing of the blink-stop can be adjusted to filter out reflex blinking. A double-blink is a double-click.
Another important feature: a user's head movement has no effect on the cursor's movement. The device was developed at Czech Technical University by a team of electrical engineers led by Marcela Fejkova of the school's Department of Cybernetics.
Fejkova said she was preparing to teach a course on bionics when she realized that "even a severely paralyzed patient retains the possibility of moving the eyes. And thus I got the idea to use this ability to the patient's benefit."
A variety of peripheries for hands-free computer operations have been developed in recent years. Before building the I4Control, Fejkova's team studied some of these systems, which range from simple, muscle-activated electromechanical switches to software that turns a web cam into a motion-detecting cursor device.
What was missing on the market, the scientists decided, was a low- cost and easy-to-learn system that emulates a mouse. I4Control also plugs into a USB port and works with any, mouse-driven program and on-screen keyboard.
Although I4Control has yet to reach the market, Fejkova said it has reached the certification phase and will cost less than 1,000 euro (1,200 dollars) apiece. "Our main intention is to offer a reliable and cheap product which will provide good service to its users," Fejkova said.
The system consists of a PAL camera attached to the spectacles and a wire leading to a control box. The box digitalizes the PAL signal, detects the eye pupil and coordinates its position. The data is then sent to the PC via a USB interface.
Fejkova is proud of the device, which she said reflects her twin interests: technology and helping people. Other experts like the I4Control, too. In March, for example, Fejkova's team received a 5,000-euro prize for winning one of this year's 20, European Information Society Technologies awards sponsored by the European Commission.
