BYU Students Take Eye Control to the Next Level

Okay, I'm sure you all remember when I posted about the awesome eye-controlled laptop from Tobii a while back, right? If you don't, you can always scroll down a bit and have a look.

Well, now some students from BYU are taking eye-control technology it a step further by adding something that's really needed in the EC market - affordablility.  You see, even Tobii's system, the PCEye is considered to be inexpensive in the EC market, and it costs a whopping $6,900. Let's face it, that's not something most people with the types of disabilities these systems are designed for can afford.

So, the students from BYU partnered up with EyeTech Digital Systems and created a Windows 7 tablet PC using eye tracking software developed by previous students (also partnered with EyeTech Digital). This was all part of their year-long capstone engineering requirement. The tablet is a bit thicker than usual, but only cost them $1,500. When you consider that an ordinary Windows 7 tablet retails for around $750, that's really not bad!

The eye tracking software uses a camera to track where a user is looking. This allows a user to control the cursor simply by moving their gaze around a screen. Blinking will perform a mouse click.  The tablet will run any Windows program, from Solitare to Skype, and EyeTech Digital plans to market the technology as an alternative to the sophisticated systems that are already out there.

And hey, at that price, even tech enthusiasts like me could consider buying one. I can definitely see the possibilities.

The Real-Life Data?

Meet Geminoid DK, a Geminoid-F series android, and the first humanoid robot of its kind to leave Japan.  It is also the most human-looking android I have ever seen (sorry Star Trek fans - Data doesn't count).

 

That's right folks - that's an android in the picture above.

The Geminoid series of androids was created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory in the the Department of Adaptive Machine Systems at Osaka University.  The original version, Repliee Q1Expo was created in 2005.  Though older, Repliee Q1Expo is actually a much more complicated version of Geminoid-K, as it can respond to human interactions such as touch.

The Geminoid-F is controlled through a computer system designed to mimic the movements of the android's human counterpart.  It does not have an artificial intelligence of it's own, and does not have voice interaction yet.  However, it is the simplicity of the Geminoid-F model that made it affordable for purchase by Aalborg University's Henrik Sharfe.  Once shipped back to Denmark, the robot will be used to study questions about identity, humanity, and presence, as well as the cultural differences in perception of robots and robotic technology.

If you head on over to this site  you can see a video of this thing opening and closing it's mouth, moving it's head, and even breathing.  That's right - breathing.  Pretty amazing stuff, and I look forward to seeing the future uses and possibilities for this technology in the future.  Imagine teaching children on the autism spectrum to better interact socially using androids like these.  I see a world of possibilities here.