New technology aids PwDs to communicate


All it takes to type is to stare. You can even operate computers comfortably, with your eyes serving as the keyboard and mouse. Eye-gaze technology created jointly by Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, and Vidya Sagar, a centre for special education, can be installed on any computer to aid persons with communicative disabilities to type by tracking the movement of eyeballs.

This technology is one of the many that was displayed at the Augmentative and Alternative communication open day held at Vidya Sagar on Tuesday. “Children and adults with severe speech or language problems may need to find other ways to communicate. Through this exhibition, we want to make sure that people who have difficulty in communication know the alternate and augmentative communication methods available for them,” said Kalpana Rao, principal of Vidya Sagar.

Eye-gaze technology, which is first calibrated based on your eyeball movement, will type as you stare at the alphabet on a keyboard on the screen. One can complete all actions performed by a keyboard and mouse without touching anything. “Persons with motor disabilities, cerebral palsy, autism spectrum and Parkinson’s disease will benefit from it,” a volunteer from Vidya Sagar said. While eye-gaze technology is still at its formative stages, there are plenty of simple and cost-effective options that are already available in the market.....Read more

 

Source web page: New indian express


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