Hello from a software developer in London

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Hi all,

This looks like a great community - I'm happy to have found it.

I do not have ALS/MND, but I have written something that might be of interest to people on here. The rules state that linking to your own website is not allowed though. Does anyone know what I should do?

The software runs on Windows and facilitates full computer control and speech using only your eyes (or a mouse if you don't have an eye tracker). It is also completely free and open source - this isn't a commercial thing.

Hope someone knows.

Regards,
Julius
 
Post the link. It will go to moderation. I will look at it and see if it is permissible
 
Ok, thanks Nikki. I'm also going to try and submit this info to Tips, Tricks, and Gadgets as that seems like a good fit for this also. I hope that's ok.

OptiKey - full computer control (and speech) with your eyes

In my spare time over the last 3 years I've been developing a free and open source application called OptiKey that gives complete computer control and speech using only your eyes. I'm now trying to raise awareness of OptiKey so that people living with disabilities are able to find it and hopefully benefit from using it.

OptiKey is an assistive on-screen keyboard which runs on Windows. It is designed to be used with a low cost eye-tracking device (TheEyeTribe, GazeTracker, Tobii EyeX, Tobii REX) to bring keyboard control, mouse control and speech to people with motor and speech limitations, such as people living with ALS / MND. It works out of the box once you have your eye-tracking device installed and allows selections to be made using dwell selection, as well as physical buttons and assistive devices. If you do not have an eye tracking device you can use OptiKey with a mouse (or Camera Mouse).

OptiKey was written to challenge the outrageously expensive, unreliable and difficult to use AAC (alternative and augmentative communication) products on the market. It is, therefore, fully open-source and free. Forever.

Download it, read about it, check out the source code (C#) and watch the demo video at http://www.OptiKey.org

If you, or someone you know, could benefit from using OptiKey then please get in touch with me - I'd love to help and know that my software has made someone's life a little better - [email protected]

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Nikki would it be possible to change the title of this post so that it is more obvious to people what this thread is about? e.g. to "OptiKey - full computer control (and speech) with your eyes"?
 
I'm a software developer (25+ years) as well and have thought along a similar vein. What I'm doing is browser based using HTML5, CSS and JQuery and tag clouds to minimize mouse movement. The reason for browser based is that then I can run on Macs, Android tablets and phones, etc...

Please feel free to give me a shout about anything and to incorporate any ideas I may have, I'm of the same mindset as you with regards to just wanting to put something out there for free that folks can use forever and not have to use some expensive proprietary solution, they have enough grief in their lives having to shell out money they don't have for something less than optimal is not acceptable.

Happy to do whatever I can to further the cause so to speak.
 
Hi notBrad,

That sounds excellent. I would have gone down the web route as, like you say, it works everywhere, but sadly I'm a desktop dev!

Do you have source code or a demo available anywhere? I would be very interested to see what you've done.

Regards,
Julius
 
Hi Julius,

Sure, here's a post that has a link https://www.alsforums.com/forum/336766-post29.html

As far as being a desktop dev, I was one as well prior to getting into multi-tiered and distributed systems.

Here's the thing, if you're a C# guy (I am too BTW) then javascript, jquery, etc... is all soooo close to it that you can make the transition with your eyes closed. Think of writing the logic as being nothing but API's that are called by form methods. So you write an "api" call that the browser interprets.

I would be more than happy to help you with transitioning your ideas to a browser based design (which is a good skill set to have as well).

PM me and I'll give you my contact info.

Take care and thanks for doing this.
 
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After watching the demo video, I am now regretting switching to a Mac. *sigh*
 
Brad - I've dropped you a message. Very nice web demo. I like the idea.
 
After watching the demo video, I am now regretting switching to a Mac. *sigh*

Since Macs moved over to Intel processors a while ago isn't it possible to run Windows software on them using parallels? Someone with a Mac would know more,
 
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yep, parellels runs a virtual windows environment, or you can boot directly into windows

I think browser based however is the way to go as it covers more than the mac/win issue.

Great work guys :)
 
Parallels has a free trial. I included a link to it, but it looks like that isn't allowed. Search for it and give it a go. I'd love to know if OptiKey and any of the eye trackers (TheEyeTribe, Tobii EyeX, etc) work within Parallels.

Regards,
Julius
 
You lost me at software developer. ..but awesome! I'm so glad that there are people on the forum that can offer ideas and input to develop software for sufferers...awesomeness.
J x
 
Hey great to know regarding running PC on Mac. I was Mac years ago. Back to PC for the last eight and just last week reverted back to a Mac. My learning curve is steep. I'll go learn more about running the two environments on one machine. Thanks.
 
Great another reason my husband can give me that PC rules. I have a Mac and he has a self built PC, and a laptop so we like to talk smack to each other. This program looks really interesting, and Tim is interested in it. He has a Tobi but finds that it gives him a splitting headache as the screen on his Lenovo is so small. He has a massive monitor, and we thought about hooking him up to his regular computer, or maybe we did, can't remember really, but he became angry and discouraged. I tried pushing him a couple of times but this is about the only thing he gets ornery about. He is a full quad now, but can still speak clearly, while using a sip and puff ventilator. We have had a couple of voice activated devises for his bed, but the silly thing kept thinking it was hearing commands in the night while he was sleeping and talking back, or actually started shifting his bed. Tim loves to listen to music when he goes to sleep, and he also vocalizes when he sleeps deeply so both devices activated when they thought they heard something LIKE certain commands. Tim really misses using his computer and he is a total geek, and has been coach building a new computer with a friend. Are there any voice activated programs that would allow him to surf the web? He has Dragon but I don't think he has been able to use it to go on the web. Also it would be great to have a voice controlled device to change the positions of his chair. He can't move his head anymore, well except to drop it forward never to return again unless I lift it up. Sip and puff controls won't do as he needs not use sip & puff to breath. What do you guys suggest?

Paulette
 
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