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ChinMusic

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Hi. My mother has ALS. I would guess that within the next year she will completely lose dexterity in her hand/fingers.

I am a software developer that recently purchased a Tobii Eye Tracker 4C device and am currently building an extensible application that would allow a user to control an application I am writing by eye gaze.

My results have been so far have been so-so. However, I know that what I wish to accomplish for my mother (and others) is possible given what I've seen the developer of the Optikey device achieve (which is compatible with the Tobii Eye Tracker if I've understood correctly).

My intent is to write (and make available for others to write via openly publishing either the entire source or an SDK) several 'plugins' for the tool that would allow a user to control devices or other capabilities via eye gaze. The initial set of plugins I'm working on would include:

1) TTS plugin: a text-to-speech plugin that would offer, well, text-to-speech -- where the user, by eye gaze, woujd control a keyboard to type what they wish to say, then say it via a speech synthesis toolset.

2) Roku plugin: a tool that mimics a Roku remote control, but controlled via eye gaze.

3) Phillips Hue plugin: a tool that would identify and allow control of any Phillips Hue devices on the local network via eye gaze.


So, I guess I have a few questions for the community:

1) has this been done before? In other words, is there a commercially produced or 3rd party tool out there that achieves the same result? I know there are TTS devices available via eye gaze (Dynavox), but those cost quite a bit. With respect to TTS, I'm trying to build something (hopefully) as good as Optikey - but again my focus is on specific use cases. Optikey let's you control a Windows operating system - which is fantastic - but I'm shooting for more specific use cases.

2) what is everyone's experience with the Tobii Eye Tracker? The device runs for $!50 on Amazon. Tobii markets the tool as a productivity enancement and a gaming device, but there are obvious use cases for those that cannot control a keyboard and mouse...and that's where this tool I'm attempting to build comes in.

3) Regarding the 3 'plugins' aforementioned - these are just ideas that I had that would help my mother. Obviously others would have other needs to integrate with a webaite, device, etc.... (think IoT -- Internet of Things)

Any advice/help would be appreciated. My intention is, when it's ready, to publish this application as a third party open source tool free for all - so the only cost to an individual requiring such an application would be the purchase of the Tobii Eye Tracker. Currently, I only have the Roku Remote Control plugin working to a point where I'd be willing to try it with others.

Thanks in advance.
 
Windows 10 is supposed to have an update this month that will include the software for use with Tobii. The only hardware you need to add is a $180 tracking bar to put on your monitor. There are videos online showing it. If this works as advertised it will be a huge step forward in affordability.
 
A developer from London named Optikey Julius is offering an answer to this thread. Because it could become commercial in nature, I've moved his reply to Tips and Tricks under the Tobii Eye Tracking Q & A thread.
 
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