Simplified Eye Gesture Recognition for control of Assistive Devices

描述(申请人提供)：该项目旨在为眼睛控制通信和计算机交互提供一个更简单、更用户友好的系统。虽然眼球跟踪系统目前已经上市，但现有的系统往往非常昂贵，通常耗资数千美元，最重要的是，难以设置、校准和使用。在这个项目中，我们将开发一种更简单、更容易使用的基于眼睛的通信设备。它将基于检测用于交流的定性眼势，而不是精确测量眼部位置。在未来，这款设备有望与我们已经确定的用于文本生成、选词和消除歧义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、技术专家和用户组成的联盟确定实际的眼神手势。然后，我们将开发一种使用低成本光学和电子元件的概念验证i-手势设备。将为PC开发基于Java的软件，以实现设备的真实测试。这款概念验证设备将由一群残疾志愿者试用，以展示i-手势技术的可行性，并将得出初步成本估计，以帮助预测用户对该设备的接受程度。在美国，有100多万人患有严重的沟通障碍，需要增强型通信技术，数万人的残疾非常严重，除了基于眼睛的沟通之外，几乎没有其他选择。然而，现有的眼球跟踪器解决方案往往难以用于许多个人。该项目将产生一种对相当一部分人来说更实用的设备，并承诺更轻、更小、更具竞争力的价格。

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.