Eye-Com Corporation Developing an Eye Controlled Wheelchair

The American Community Survey in 2006 reported that about 41.3 million people, or 15.1% of the civilian noninstitutionalized population 5 years and over in the United States, reported a disability. That is a significant portion of the population that could benefit from advances in assistive technology. The definition of assistive technology, according to the Assistive Technology Industry Association, is “any item, piece of equipment, product or system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities.” Companies that develop and sell these devices or systems have the chance to improve the quality of life of these individuals and help facilitate their interaction with the world around them.

Assistive mobility is one sector of the massive assistive technologies industry that significantly improves the everyday lives of the physically disabled. There are hundreds of assistive mobility devices available on the market; however, there are a few factors that inhibit their accessibility to every person who needs them. One of these factors is cost. Some electric wheelchairs cost up to tens of thousands of dollars and even the top-of-the-line models fail to meet all of their users’ needs. Another inhibitor is that most of these technologies require at least some musculomotor control of the hands or head to control the joystick, but this is not a possibility for those who don’t have these abilities, such as quadriplegics or amputees.

Sufferers of paralysis as a result of ALS, stroke, or spinal cord injury typically retain muscular control of their eyes, which presents an opportunity for eye controlled assistive technology. Eye Com Corporation is developing a way to incorporate the power of its eye tracking technology with assistive devices that will give people with paralysis the ability to become mobile. The Eye-Com EC7T eye tracking system can be used to control an electric wheelchair with eye movement commands, eliminating the need for hand control. The EC7T is a wearable device with frame-mounted microcameras that detects the pupil of the eye and tracks its movement. Directional controls of the wheelchair are executed by looking in the direction you wish to move (i.e. looking left will cause the wheelchair to turn left and continue to move forward in that direction).

The product is still in the development phase, but Eye-Com Corporation is working hard to make it available soon to those who need it. Eye-Com Corporation is dedicated to the development of eye tracking technology to improve and save lives, support the advancement of research, and revolutionize human-technology interaction. In the near future, a mobility solution for sufferers of paralysis will be a reality, providing these individuals a sense of freedom that was never possible before.

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