What is latest in eye gaze technology?

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dldugan

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Oct 5, 2018
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203
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
09/2018
Country
US
State
illinois
City
Mahomet
Left arm is nearly useless and right arm weakening. Need to put something in place for communication. I understand APPLE has something in place with their latest IOS devices and associated cameras. Has anyone tried these?

What do you and/or your PALS have experience with? Recommendations and experiences will be greatly appreciated.

I use my iPad a great deal, but it does not have the capacity for the latest IOS camera technology. I can purchase a new one.
 
Great question. I am interested in the answers too.
Recently I started a thread asking about differences between the tobii medical grade devices vs. the tobii for gamers.
We had a very nice tobii rep visiting yesterday and I was going to update that thread as soon as I have some time.
Not sure about apple devices.
Ina
 
How is your speech? Getting eyegaze or similar in place asap is a great idea but speech to text can work in the interim if you are not impacted in speech yet I use the dictation mode on my apple devices when I am tiredbut there are other modalities that you can use that would be better if you need it all the time
 
Following for an answer. We are looking for something to work well with Mac too, instead of traditional mouse.
 
For iPads and iPhones with the TrueDepth cameras looking for an eye gaze solution, you can download Hawkeye Access for free and try it (or try it on someone else's device before you buy a new one). Judging by the reviews, it has a ways to go but has opened things up.

A lot of people use a switch interface like the Tecla so they can use an ability switch with a smart phone or tablet as long as they have one muscle they can activate reliably. Or if you can use a traditional keyboard better than a virtual one, there is a cheap USB interface for iOS devices to attach a regular keyboard, or use a Bluetooth one. You can also use the accessibility settings in iOS to enable using your head as a switch, then mount the device in a usable position.

For those who can still use their feet, there are good feet mice that can be attached via USB or ability switches that can operate with an interface.

For the Mac, a head tracker app is iTracker for Mac. The Mac supports alternative mice including head mice (some people here have used the SmartNav), tongue/chin mice (the TetraMouse is nice), etc. via USB. I am sure Windows does as well.

If a Mac or Windows system will only operate via Eye Gaze, the company by that name makes a solution that gets good reviews, competing with the Tobii.

As Nikki says, if you can still speak, dictated commands and text are great.
 
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Thanks Laurie. I should clarify. I think the earlier you start practicing with eye gaze type technology the better. My sister found it a steep learning curve. But as long as you can the speech to text apps are much less tiring. Eye gaze is hard work. I know because I tried it. I think it is one of the things CALS should try so they know a little what it is like
 
I practical practiced for a year before I had to use it,. I hated giving up my iPad but love my Microsoft surface with tobii eyegaze attached.

also recently my children commented they were so glad I recorded my voice. The computer sounds much like my voice.
 
Totally agree Nikki - CALS should really try out everything as it really changes your perspective. That goes for all equipment!

We did not have eye gaze, but had a switch and I spent many hours setting it up and learning it to try and teach it back to Chris. It was not just a simple thing to pick up!

So yes, start learning the technology long before you need it so that you are well practiced with it, and you don't suddenly 'have' to learn it because all else has failed. That adds so much stress onto the learning process.
 
I have a new iPhone and downloaded Hawkeye Access. It calibrated easily even with my progressive lenses but then wouldn't track my eyes. I tried again without glasses and had same outcome. Now, I'm not sure I'll trade my 2017 iPad for a new iPad. I do think iPads are easier to use for adaptive apps than iPhones. They are easier to stabilize.

This is very disappointing for me since I love my iPhone and iPad. They both work good for voice recognition apps.

I tried another free one called Voice and it failed the same way, both with and without my glasses.

Anyone with a 2018 iPad or iPhone I'd be interested in hearing how these apps work for you.
 
I had the same issue with Hawkeye when I first downloaded it, but I tried it again yesterday and discovered it was now tracking. It is not great, but at least I was able to open apps and sort of navigate. Like you, I had given up hope, but now it is looking better. My fingers are crossed that it will keep getting better.
 
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