HCC: Easy-to-Learn and Easy-to-Use Eye-Controlled Musical Expression For Children with Severe Disabilities

尽管相对低成本的眼动追踪技术提供了机会，但计算机的实际眼动控制仍然非常有限。 这对于有严重运动障碍的儿童来说尤其不幸，他们保留了对眼球运动的控制，并有可能使用眼动仪，但由于缺乏合适的交互式软件来支持这些活动，他们错过了重要的儿童发育活动。 在之前的一个研究项目中，他开发了EyeDraw软件，该软件使患有严重运动障碍的儿童能够用他们的眼球运动来绘画，PI表明，对于这个社区，眼动跟踪可以提供一种强大而非侵入性的创造性表达手段。 虽然EyeDraw在许多方面都取得了成功，但在开发过程中，PI发现了三个主要问题，这些问题阻碍了研究人员和从业人员为这些儿童创建眼控软件的努力。首先，没有专门用于开发眼控应用程序的快速原型工具或软件应用程序框架。 此外，眼控软件通常旨在供专家使用，并且乍一看并不提供愉快的体验。 最后但并非最不重要的一点是，在软件设计中，没有与严重残疾儿童合作的既定做法。 本项目通过在支持播放音乐的计算机应用程序的具体背景下开展一些相关活动来应对这些问题。 PI将确定哪些参与式设计技术可以用于严重运动障碍的儿童，并将建立一个设计实践，使他能够直接与他们和他们的照顾者合作，开发软件，使孩子们能够用眼睛运动来制作音乐。 他将创建一个框架，通过为护理人员，从业者和研究人员提供一种快速生成眼睛交互草图的方法，支持这个用户社区的眼控应用程序的快速原型，以便孩子们可以交流，探索替代方案，提供反馈，并创造性地表达自己。 他将设计干预技术，解决与眼控软件的初始使用相关的困难，以确保立即的成就感，满意度，互动，控制，鼓励和表达。 这最后一个目标将通过支持音乐表达的界面来实现，即使是低保真度的零点校准，并且在表达性音乐活动期间逐步改善校准，同时也逐步引入先进的功能和创造性音乐表达的机会。 更广泛的影响：该项目将促进对如何为严重残疾儿童构建眼控软件的理解，这是当前科学或设计文献尚未解决的挑战。 项目成果将为有严重运动障碍的年轻人提供一种参与目前无法实现的艺术追求的手段。 眼控应用的快速原型框架将为大学课堂教学和未来的研究人员提供基础设施。

Despite the opportunity afforded by the relatively low-cost eye tracking technology now becoming available, practical eye-control of computers is still very limited. This is particularly unfortunate for children with severe motor impairments who retain control of their eye movements and have the potential to use an eye tracker, but who miss out on important childhood developmental activities because of a lack of suitable interactive software to support these activities. In a previous research project in which he developed EyeDraw, software that enables children with severe motor impairments to draw pictures with their eye movements, the PI showed that for this community eye tracking can provide a powerful and noninvasive means of creative expression. Though EyeDraw was in many ways a success, during its development the PI identified three major problems that hinder efforts by researchers and practitioners to create eye-controlled software for these children. Firstly, no rapid prototyping tools or software application frameworks are available specifically for developing eye-controlled applications. Furthermore, eye-controlled software is typically intended for expert use and does not provide enjoyable experiences at first glance. Last but not least, there is no established practice for working with children with severe disabilities as partners in software design. This project responds to these problems by pursuing a number of related activities, within the concrete context of computer applications that support playing music. The PI will determine which participatory design techniques can work with children with severe motor impairments, and will establish a design practice that allows him to collaborate directly with them and their caregivers, to develop software that enables the children to make music with eye movements. He will create a framework that supports rapid prototyping of eye-controlled applications for this user community by giving caregivers, practitioners, and researchers a means to quickly generate eye-interactive sketches so that the children can communicate, explore alternatives, provide feedback, and express themselves creatively. And he will design intervention techniques that address the difficulties associated with the initial use of eye-controlled software, to ensure an immediate sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, interaction, control, encouragement, and expression. This last goal will be accomplished through interfaces that support musical expression even with a low-fidelity zero-point calibration, and which incrementally improve the calibration during expressive musical activities while also gradually introducing advanced functionality and opportunities for creative musical expression. Broader Impacts: This project will advance an understanding of how to build eye-controlled software for children with severe disabilities, a challenge that is not addressed by the current scientific or design literature. Project outcomes will provide young people with severe motor impairments with a means of engaging in artistic pursuits that are currently out of reach. The rapid prototyping framework for eye-controlled applications will provide an infrastructure for university classroom instruction and future researchers.