People with special needs require special devices for controlling a mouse or typing on a keyboard while communicating using a computer. At the ICCHP conference held July 12-14, 2006, the staff of Hansei University presented their paper on development of a new assistive technology system that facilitates hands-free control of a computer by tracking head movements. It will enable people with spinal cord injuries and other special needs to operate a personal computer efficiently.
Physically disabled people usually encounter difficulties while controlling a computer using classical devices. CameraMouse, Quick Glance 2, Smart Nav and QualiEye CameraMouse are some of the commercial mice available in the market as substitutes for a standard mouse. Other systems available commercially that facilitate the usage of a personal computer for people with physical disabilities have two major drawbacks. One, these systems need special devices and two, most of them are expensive.
The proposed system can be run on a standard Windows platform. Unlike other commercial hands-free products that use special devices, this system uses a standard USB video camera to track head movements. Apart from physically disabled people, it can be applied to users operating common devices like ATMs, vending machines and pay phones. This proposed mouse is specifically designed for people with spinal cord injuries like quadriplegia, muscular dystrophy and other conditions.
The system utilizes Man-Computer Interface (MCI) and a PC camera. Using a standard communication interface equipped with corresponding software the disabled user can control a PC by head movements and an eye blink for clicking. Any person with controlled movement of the head can operate the mouse. This assistive technology product is cost-effective and a disabled user can use the system for a PC mouse and a keyboard. This system can be used as an alternative for a normal mouse, because a PC camera is used to track head movements and translates these movements into cursor movements on a computer screen by using matching and tracking algorithms. The system utilizes the information for clicking, double clicking and dragging processes as it recognizes the position of the eyes. The disabled user does not require additional devices, except a standard PC camera, to use the system effectively. The advantages this system has over other commercially available systems are that the software can be customized and adjusted and it can accommodate varying degrees of control.
In order to track and translate head movements into cursor movements on a computer screen, a small nose image is used as a template and the template is compared with an input face image sequence. For the template matching process, the features taken into consideration are: nose is located at the center of the face, abrupt gradient change because of nostrils and no sudden change duration and translation of the face. This system detects the user’s nose area automatically and then uses it for template and double template matching.
The use of this assistive technology product is not restricted to disabled users only. People indulging in PC games and operating ATM machines, vending machines and pay phones can also use this system.
0 comments:
Post a Comment