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munnexdio t1_j5vdkv7 wrote

Reply to comment by _Skyhopper_ in An ALS patient set a record for communicating via a brain implant: 62 words per minute by esprit-de-lescalier

Eye movement tracking tablets have existed for ~15 years. My aunt had ALS and used one in 2007 when she couldn’t speak anymore. It’s basically a tablet that tracks your eye movement. There’s a digital keyboard and it recognizes what letters you’re looking at in what order, so you can form sentences and have it speak for you. They’re very expensive but insurance will often cover it. You should look into it

Edit: here’s a link for the one my aunt used https://eyegaze.com/products/eyegaze-edge/

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SophiesChoice_55 t1_j5w8ktn wrote

I had a student who used a tablet like this and it was a game changer for him and his teachers.

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SophiesChoice_55 t1_j5wd11z wrote

My student had a shortcut screen with pictures. Common words that he used frequently had one key. It also had his teacher's yearbook picture on the key and he could call us with one stroke. He was a sharp, funny kid who loved to talk. The difference was amazing. I wish all special needs children with this form of disability had the opportunity to have this.

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ThrillSurgeon t1_j5x9k9g wrote

How small can the letters on the screen be? Giving us an idea of its precision.

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munnexdio t1_j5xa3yw wrote

Extremely precise. https://eyegaze.com/users/als/

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ThrillSurgeon t1_j5xb21c wrote

Incredible, look how small the letters on the screen are. If this is the real technology and not just a medical advertisement, its extremely precise.

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munnexdio t1_j5xbbra wrote

It is real. I watched my aunt use it over a decade ago. I can only imagine how much it has improved since then.

It also costs like $20,000, which is why insurance covers it (sometimes)

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Undrende_fremdeles t1_j5ybki0 wrote

I tried a freeware open source program like this many years ago!

I have no disability like that, just wanted to test it since it was free. I used my mouse to "track" the marker on the screen.

I remember them writing about how the bottleneck was an affordable setup for actually tracking the eyes, not the software and the screen. But there were up and coming freeware and open source programs for that too.

I imagine that with today's camera quality you can definitively make a basic setup like this at home for free/for the cost of a screen w/camera and something for computing. Be it tablets or other setups.

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