Severely disabled to benefit from eye-control technology

 

A technological breakthrough which has the potential to help severely disabled people move independently has been unveiled by researchers at the University of Bradford.

The new technology - Intelligent Recognition for Interactive Systems (IRIS) - allows disabled people to control their electric wheelchairs by simply moving their eyes.

Basically, the user wears a glasses-like tracking device on their face which has a small camera mounted on it. The camera then sends a signal to a central unit precisely tracking eye movement right down to the exact position of the iris, which then relays the message to the electronics of the wheelchair. Users are then able to look in the direction they wish to travel and the wheelchair responds accordingly. 

Dr Prashant Pillai, who led a team from the University’s School of Engineering, Design and Technology, said:  "We really had to go back to the beginning to make the technology work for electric wheelchairs. We are really excited by how well our prototype is working and have managed to reduce the reaction time from when the eye movement takes place down from a few seconds to just a few milliseconds – which will feel instantaneous for the user. We have also made the headset completely wireless."

Dr Pillai and his team now intend to develop the technology further so that it can be tested with disability groups before making a move into the technology market.