EyeCom-An Innovative Approach for Computer Interaction

Abstract The world is innovating rapidly, and there is a need for continuous interactions with the technology. Sadly, there do not exist promising options for paralyzed people to interact with the machine, i.e., laptops, smartphones, and notepads. A few commercial solutions such as Google Glasses are costly and cannot be afforded by every paralyzed person to interact with the machine. Towards this end, the paper proposes a retina-controlled device called EyeCom. The proposed device is constructed from off-the-shelf cost-effective yet robust IoT devices (i.e., Arduino microcontrollers, Xbee wireless sensors, infrared light emitting (IR) diodes, and accelerometer). The EyeCom can be easily mounted on to the glasses. The paralyzed person using this device can interact with the machine, using simple head movements and eye blinks. The IR detector is located in front of the EyeCom to illuminate the eye region. As a result of the illumination, the eye reflects the IR light, which includes electrical signals. As eyelids close, the reflected light, over all of the eye surface is disrupted, and the change in reflected value is recorded. On the other hand, to enable cursor movement onto the computer screen on behalf of the paralyzed person a device named accelerometer is used. A microcontroller processes the inputs from the IR sensors and accelerometer and transmit them wirelessly via Xbee wireless sensor (i.e., a radio) to another microcontroller attached to the computer. With the help of the proposed algorithm, the microcontroller attached to the computer, on receiving the signal moves the cursor onto the computer screen and facilitate performing actions, as simple as opening a document, to operating a word-to-speech software.