Simplified Eye Gesture Recognition for control of Assistive Devices

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目旨在提供一个更简单，更用户友好的系统，用于眼控通信和计算机交互。虽然眼睛跟踪系统目前是可用的，但现有的系统往往非常昂贵，通常花费数千美元，最重要的是，难以设置、校准和使用。在这个项目中，我们将开发一种基于眼睛的通信设备，它更简单，更易于使用。它将基于检测用于通信的定性眼睛姿态，而不是精确测量眼睛位置。在未来，这个设备有望与我们已经确定的用于文本生成、单词选择和消歧的高级软件很好地集成。在这个项目中，我们将首先与从业者，技术人员和用户的财团确定实际的眼睛姿态。然后，我们将使用低成本的光学和电子元件开发一种概念验证的I手势设备。将为PC开发基于Java的软件，以便能够对设备进行实际测试。该概念验证设备将由一组残疾志愿者参与测试，以展示I-gesture技术的可行性，并将得出初步的成本估计，以帮助预测用户对该设备的接受程度。在美国，有超过一百万人患有严重的沟通障碍，需要使用辅助沟通技术，还有数万人患有严重的残疾，除了基于眼睛的沟通之外，几乎没有其他选择。然而，现有的眼动仪解决方案往往难以用于许多个人。该项目将产生一种对这一人群的很大一部分更实用的设备，并且还有望更轻，更小，价格更有竞争力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project aims to provide a simpler, more user-friendly system for eye-controlled communication and computer interaction. Although eye-tracking systems are currently available, the existing systems tend to be very expensive, typically costing thousands of dollars, and most importantly, are difficult to set up, calibrate, and use. In this project, we will develop an eye-based communication device that is much simpler and is easy to use. It will be based on detecting qualitative eye gestures for communication, rather than on precisely measuring eye position. In the future, this device holds promise to integrate well with advanced software we have identified for text generation, word selection, and disambiguation. In this project, we will first identify practical eye gestures with a consortium of practitioners, technologists, and users. We will then develop a proof-of-concept I-gesture device using low-cost optical and electronic components. Java-based software will be developed for the PC to enable realistic testing of the device. The proof-of-concept device will be tried by a group of volunteer participants with disabilities to show feasibility of the I-gesture technology, and preliminary cost estimates will be derived to help predict user acceptance of the device. More than one million people in the United States have communications disorders severe enough to require augmentative communications technology, and many tens of thousands have disabilities so severe that few alternatives other than eye-based communication is possible. However, existing eye tracker solutions tend to be difficult to use for many individuals. This project will result in a device that is much more practical for a significant proportion of this population, and also promises to be lighter, smaller, and competitively priced.