A TECHNICAL PAPER ON Artificial Intelligence

EYE-GAZE COMMUNICATION- Eye gaze human computer interface

Submitted by:

RAMIREDDY SUBBARAMI REDDY ENGG.

COLLEGE

Kadanuthala, Nellore D.T.,

A.Saisaran V.Rajeswari

093R1A0533

093R1A0531

IV C.S.E IV C.S.E

Mail: saisaran2012@gmail.com

Ph.no:9030132324

1. ABSTRACT

The Eye gaze System is a

communication and control system for

people with complex physical disabilities.

You run the system with your eyes. By

looking at control keys displayed on a

screen, a person can synthesize speech,

control his environment (lights,

appliances, etc.), type, operate a telephone,

run computer software, operate a computer

mouse, and access the Internet and e-mail.

Eye gaze Systems are being used to write

books, attend school and enhance the

quality of life of people with disabilities all

over the world.

Imagine yourself being a

intelligent, motivated, and working person

in the fiercely competitive market of

information technology, but just one

problem You can't use your hands. Or you

can't speak. How do you do your job?

How do you stay employed? You can,

because of a very good gift from computer

Industry: The Eye gaze, a communication

& control system you run with your eyes.

The Eye gaze System is a

direct-select vision-controlled

communication and control system. It was

developed in Fairfax, Virginia, by LC

Technologies, Inc.,

2. THE SKILLS NEEDED BY

THE USER

This system is mainly

developed for those who lack the use of

their hands or voice. Only requirements to

operate the Eye gaze are control of at least

one eye with good vision & ability to keep

head fairly still. Eye gaze Systems are in

use around the world.  Its users are adults

and children with cerebral palsy, spinal

cord injuries, brain injuries, ALS, multiple

sclerosis, brainstem strokes, muscular

dystrophy, and Werdnig-Hoffman

syndrome.  Eye gaze Systems are being

used in homes, offices, schools, hospitals,

and long-term care facilities. By looking at

control keys displayed on a screen, a

person can synthesize speech, control his

environment (lights, appliances, etc.), type,

operate a telephone, run computer

software, operate a computer mouse, and

access the Internet and e-mail. Eye gaze

Systems are being used to write books,

attend school and enhance the quality of

life of people with disabilities all over the

world.

Figure: An example of fixations and

saccades over text. This is the typical

pattern of eye movement during reading.

The eyes never move smoothly over still

text.

3. HOW DOES THE EYEGAZE

SYSTEM WORKS

For using the Eye gaze

Systems the users sits in front of the

system’s screen and for tracking the eye

movement of the user the systems follows

the below mentioned steps. As the system

starts tracking the movement of the eyes,

all the features of the system can be used

depending on the requirements. As a user

sits in front of the Eye gaze monitor, a

specialized video camera mounted below

the monitor observes one of the user's eyes. 

Sophisticated image- processing software

in the Eye gaze System's computer

continually analyzes the video image of the

eye and determines where the user is

looking on the screen.  Nothing is attached

to the user's head or body.

Fig: Eye gaze System Application

As a user sits in front of the Eye

gaze monitor, a specialized video

camera mounted below the monitor

observes one of the user's eyes.

Sophisticated image processing

software in the Eye gaze System's

computer continually analyzes the

video image of the eye and

determines where the user is

looking on the screen. Nothing

actually is attached to the user's

head or body.

The Eye gaze System uses the

pupil-center/corneal-reflection

method to determine where the

user is looking on the screen. An

infrared-sensitive video camera,

mounted beneath the System's

monitor, takes 60 pictures per

second of the user's eye.

A low power, infrared light

emitting diode (LED), mounted in

the center of the camera's lens

illuminates the eye. The LED

reflects a small bit of light off the

surface of the eye's cornea. The

light also shines through the pupil

and reflects off of the retina, the

back surface of the eye, and causes

the pupil to appear white. The

bright-pupil effect enhances the

camera's image of the pupil and

makes it easier for the image

processing functions to locate the

center of the pupil.

The computer calculates the

person's gaze point, i.e., the

coordinates of where he is looking

on the screen, based on the relative

positions of the pupil center and

corneal reflection within the video

image of the eye.

Typically the Eye gaze System

predicts the gaze point with an

average accuracy of a quarter inch

or better.

Prior to operating the eye tracking

applications, the Eye gaze System

must learn several physiological

properties of a user's eye in order

to be able to project his gaze point

accurately. The system learns these

properties by performing a

calibration procedure.

The user calibrates the system by

fixing his gaze on a small yellow

circle displayed on the screen, and

following it as it moves around the

screen. The calibration procedure

usually takes about 15 seconds, and

the user does not need to

recalibrate if he moves away from

the Eye gaze System and returns

later.

A user operates the Eye gaze

System by looking at rectangular

keys that are displayed on the

control screen. To "press" an Eye

gaze key, the user looks at the key

for a specified period of time.

The gaze duration required to

visually activate a key, typically a

fraction of a second, is adjustable.

An array of menu keys and exit

keys allow the user to navigate

around the Eye gaze programs

independently.

4. HOW TO RUN THE

EYEGAZE SYSTEM

A user operates the Eye gaze

System by looking at rectangular keys that

are displayed on the control screen. To

"press" an Eye gaze key, the user looks at

the key for a specified period of time.  The

gaze duration required to visually activate

a key, typically a fraction of a second, is

adjustable.  An array of menu keys and

exit keys allow the user to navigate around

the Eye gaze programs independently.

The Edge Analysis System uses the

Pupil-Center/Corneal-Reflection

method to determine the eye's gaze

direction.

A video camera located below the

computer screen remotely and

unobtrusively observes the subject's

eye.

No attachments to the head are

required.

A small, low power, infrared light

emitting diode (LED) located at the

center of the camera lens illuminates

the eye. The LED generates the

corneal reflection and causes the

bright pupil effect, which enhances

the camera's image of the pupil.

Fig: Eye gaze communication

5. USES OF EYEGAZE

Every year more than 100 000

people are diagnosed with motor neurone

diseases. Typically, even when all other

ways of communicating are either severely

damaged or completely lost, the eyes still

function. Communication by Gaze

Interaction (COGAIN) is a Network of

Excellence designed specifically to help

people with these disabilities to

communicate more effectively with eye

gaze. At the COGAIN stand you can see

how this technology is used by a person

who relies on it.

Current eye tracking

equipment allows users to generate text on

a computer by using eye gaze. Users are

able to select letters and numbers by

looking at a keyboard on a screen with

their eyes, and can construct words and

sentences that can be spoken aloud by the

system. Using these systems both

empowers and enables people with

disabilities as they can now communicate

without the need for an assistant or helper,

giving the users greater freedom in their

lives.

Eye tracking systems that

allow text entry by eye gaze have been in

existence for about two decades, but the

technology is still only available to a small

portion of the potential user population.

Obstacles for more wide-spread use

currently include: the high cost of eye

tracking equipment, the limitation that

gaze communication applications may

only work with a particular dedicated eye

tracking device, and finally that eye

tracking devices are often hard to use and

require experts to operate them.

5.1 The Basic Eye gaze can:

ADJUST TO A NEW USER in about 15

seconds. (Calibration)

TYPE with one of four keyboards, then

print or speak. (Typewriter)

TURN pages on the computer screen by

looking at "up" or "down". (Read Text)

PLAY games, two "Paddle" games, plus

Solitaire and Slot Machine. (Games)

TEACH new users with simplified

screens. (Teach Screens)

5.2 With Options the Eye gaze can:

BE AT TWO SITES!! Portable computer

has a handle to hand-carry between two

sites. Two sets of other components and

cables for access to Eye gaze System at

school, work or home. Dimensions

9"x5'txl7'1, weight approximately 16 lbs.

(Transportable Computer)

BE A KEYBOARD to a second computer

to run any keyboard-controlled software,

by means of the T-TAM connector.

(Second Computer Mode)

SPEAK 100 "canned phrases" through a

speech synthesizer, with a single glance of

the eye. Phrases can be changed by

caregiver or user. (Phrases)

CONTROL appliances anywhere in the

home or office from one Eye gaze screen.

No special wiring. (Lights and Appliances)

DIAL and answer a speaker phone from

one screen. "Phone Book" stores 16

frequently used numbers. (Telephone)

Main Menu Options:

6.1 The Phrase Program:

The Phrases program, along

with the speech synthesizer, provides

quick communications for non-verbal

users. Looking at a key causes a

preprogrammed message to be spoken.

The Phrases program stores up to 126

messages, which can be composed and

easily changed to suit the user.

Figure: Phrases Screen

6.2 Typewriter Program:

Simple word processing can be

done using the Typewriter Program. The

user types by looking at keys on visual

keyboards. Four keyboard configurations,

simple to complex, are available. Typed

text appears on the screen above the

keyboard display. The user may "speak" or

print what he has typed. He may also store

typed text in a file to be retrieved at a later

time. The retrieved text may be verbalized,

edited or printed.

Figure: Alpha Keyboard

6.3 The Telephone Program:

The telephone program allows the user to

place and receive calls. Frequently used

numbers are stored in a telephone "book".

Non-verbal users may access the speech

synthesizer to talk on the phone.

fig: Telephone Control Screen

6.4 Run Second PC:

The Run Second PC program

permits the Eye gaze Communication

System to act as a peripheral keyboard and

Mouse interface to a Windows computer.

The user can run any off-the-shelf

software he chooses on the second

computer. He can access the Internet, and

send e-mail by looking at keyboard and

mouse control screens on the Eye gaze

monitor. The programs being run are

displayed on the second computer's

monitor. Typed text appears

simultaneously on the Eye gaze and

second pc's screens.

Figure: Frequency Keyboard

For children, two new Eye

gaze programs have been added to the Eye

gaze System.  Both run with the Second

PC option.  Eye Switch is a big, basic on-

screen switch to run "cause & effect"

software programs on a Second PC. 

Simple Mouse is an easy mouse control

program to provide simplified access to

educational software on a Second PC.

Figure: Mouse control screen

6.5 The Lights & appliances Program:

The Lights & appliances

Program which includes computer-

controlled switching equipment, provides

Eye gaze control of lights and appliances

anywhere in the home or office. No special

house wiring is necessary. The user turns

appliances on and off by looking at a bank

of switches displayed on the screen.

Figure: Lights and Appliances

6.6 Paddle games & Score Four:

These are the visually controlled Games.

6.7 Read Text Program:

The Read Text Program allows

the user to select text for display and to

"turn pages" with his eyes. Any ASCII

format text can be loaded for the user to

access. Books on floppy disk are available

from Services for the Blind.

6.8 Television:

Television programs can be

displayed directly on the desktop Eye gaze

System screen.  On-screen volume and

channel controls provide independent

operation.  (Not available on the Portable

Eye gaze System.)

6. MENUS OF EYEGAZESYSTEM

The Main Menu:

The Main Menu appears on the

screen as soon as the user completes a 15-

second calibration procedure. The Main

Menu presents a list of available Eye gaze

programs. The user calls up a desired

program by looking at the Eye gaze key

next to his program choice.

Figure: Main Menu

8. APPLICATIONS

Every year more than 100,000

people are diagnosed with motor neuron

diseases. Typically, even when all other

ways of communicating are either severely

damaged or completely lost, the eyes still

function. Communication by Gaze

Interaction (COGAIN) is a Network of

Excellence designed specifically to help

people with these disabilities to

communicate more effectively with eye

gaze. At the COGAIN stand you can see

how this technology is used by a person

who relies on it.

Current eye tracking

equipment allows users to generate text on

a computer by using eye gaze. Users are

able to select letters and numbers by

looking at a keyboard on a screen with

their eyes, and can construct words and

sentences that can be spoken aloud by the

system. Using these systems both

empowers and enables people with

disabilities as they can now communicate

without the need for an assistant or helper,

giving the users greater freedom in their

lives.

Eye tracking systems that

allow text entry by eye gaze have been in

existence for about two decades, but the

technology is still only available to a small

portion of the potential user population.

Obstacles for more wide-spread use

currently include: the high cost of eye

tracking equipment, the limitation that

gaze communication applications may

only work with a particular dedicated eye

tracking device, and finally that eye

tracking devices are often hard to use and

require experts to operate them.

A wide variety of disciplines

use eye tracking techniques, including

cognitive science, psychology (notably

psycholinguistics, the visual world

paradigm), human-computer interaction

(HCI), marketing research and medical

research (neurological diagnosis). Specific

applications include the tracking eye

movement in language reading, music

reading, human activity recognition, the

perception of advertising, and the playing

of sport. Uses include:

Cognitive Studies

Medical Research

Laser refractive surgery

Human Factors

Computer Usability

Vehicle Simulators

Virtual Reality

Adult Research

Sports Training

Commercial applications

In recent years, the increased

sophistication and accessibility of eye

tracking technologies have generated a

great deal of interest in the commercial

sector. Applications include web usability,

advertising, sponsorship, package design

and automotive engineering. In general,

commercial eye tracking studies function

by presenting a target stimulus to a sample

of consumers while an eye tracker is used

to record the activity of the eye. Examples

of target stimuli may include websites,

television programs, sporting events, films,

commercials, magazines, newspapers,

packages, shelf Displays, consumer

systems (ATMs, checkout systems,

kiosks), and software. The resulting data

can be statistically analyzed and

graphically rendered to provide evidence

of specific visual patterns. By examining

fixations, saccades, pupil dilation, blinks

and a variety of other behaviors

researchers can determine a great deal

about the effectiveness of a given medium

or product. While some companies

complete this type of research internally,

there are many private companies that

offer eye tracking services and analysis.

The most prominent field of

commercial eye tracking research is web

usability. While traditional usability

techniques are often quite powerful in

providing information on clicking and

scrolling patterns, eye tracking offers the

ability to analyze user interaction between

the clicks. This provides valuable insight

into which features are the most eye-

catching, which features cause confusion

and which ones are ignored altogether.

Specifically, eye tracking can be used to

assess search efficiency, branding, online

advertisements, navigation usability,

overall design and many other site

components. Analyses may target a

prototype or competitor site in addition to

the main client site.

Eye tracking is commonly

used in a variety of different advertising

media. Commercials, print ads, online ads

and sponsored programs are all conducive

to analysis with current eye tracking

technology. Analyses focus on visibility of

a target product or logo in the context of a

magazine, newspaper, website, or televised

event. This allows researchers to assess in

great detail how often a sample of

consumers fixates on the target logo,

product or ad in this way, an advertiser can

quantify the success of a given campaign

in terms of actual visual attention.

Eye tracking provides package

designers with the opportunity to examine

the visual behavior of a consumer while

interacting with a target package. This may

be used to analyze distinctiveness,

attractiveness and the tendency of the

package to be chosen for purchase. Eye

tracking is often utilized while the target

product is in the prototype stage.

Prototypes are tested against each other

and competitors to examine which specific

elements are associated with high visibility

and appeal.

One of the most promising

applications of eye tracking research is in

the field of automotive design. Research is

currently underway to integrate eye

tracking cameras into automobiles. The

goal of this endeavor is to provide the

vehicle with the capacity to assess in real-

time the visual behavior of the driver. The

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) estimates that

drowsiness is the primary causal factor in

100,000 police-reported accidents per

year. Another NHTSA study suggests that

80% of collisions occur within three

seconds of a distraction. By equipping

automobiles with the ability to monitor

drowsiness, inattention, and cognitive

engagement driving safety could be

dramatically enhanced. Lexus claims to

have equipped its LS 460 with the first

driver monitor system in 2006, providing a

warning if the driver takes his or her eye

off the road.

Since 2005, eye tracking is

used in communication systems for

disabled persons: allowing the user to

speak, send e-mail, browse the Internet

and perform other such activities, using

only their eyes. Eye control works even

when the user has involuntary movement

as a result of Cerebral palsy or other

disabilities, and for those who have glasses

or other physical interference which would

limit the effectiveness of older eye control

systems.

Eye tracking has also seen

minute use in autofocus still camera

equipment, where users can focus on a

subject simply by looking at it through the

viewfinder.

9. FOR PEOPLE WITH

LIMITED EYE CONTROL

Scanning Keyboard is the new

row/column keyboard with an on-screen

eye "switch" for people with limited eye

movement.  The switch can be placed on

either side, above, or below the keyboard

to accommodate users with only horizontal

movement, or only vertical movement. 

The user may "speak" what he has typed.

9.1. Environment required for an Eye

gaze system

Because eye tracking is done

using infrared light.Eyegaze system must

take care of light sources in the room in

order to ensure the best accuracy. The Eye

gaze System must be operated in an

environment where there is limited of

ambient infrared light. Common sources of

infrared light are sunlight and incandescent

light bulbs. The System makes its

predictions based on the assumption that

the only source of infrared light shining on

the user's eye is coming from the center of

the camera. Therefore, stray sources of

infrared may degrade the accuracy or

prevent Eye gaze operation altogether. The

System works best away from windows,

and in a room lit with fluorescent or

mercury-vapor lights, which are low in

infrared.

9.2. New portable Eye gaze System

The Portable Eye gaze System

can be mounted on a wheelchair and run

from a 12-volt battery or wall outlet.  It

weighs only 6 lbs (2.7 kg) and its

dimensions are 2.5"x8"x9" (6.5cm x20cm

x23cm).  The Portable Eye gaze System

comes with a flat screen monitor and a

table mounted for its monitor.  The

monitor can be lifted off the table mount

and slipped into a wheelchair mount. 

Figure: Portable Eye gaze System

Mounted on Wheelchair

Figure: Screen of Eye gaze System

At each camera image sample, the Edge

Analysis System generates:

an eye-found flag indicating

whether or not the eye is visible to

the camera and thus whether or not

a valid gaze point is calculated,

x-y coordinates of the subject's

gaze point on the computer screen,

pupil diameter,

3-dimensional location of the

eyeball center within the camera

field-of-view, an indicator of head

location and movement, and

Fixation and saccade analysis.

The Edge Analysis System is robust and

extremely easy to calibrate. RMS tracking

errors are typically 0.25 inch (0.63 cm) or

less and the advanced image processing

algorithms in the System explicitly

accommodate several common sources of

gaze point tracking error:

Head Range Variation

Pupil Diameter Variation

Corneal Reflection Straddling

Pupil Edge

10. CONCLUSION

Today, the human eye-gaze

can be recorded by relatively

unremarkable techniques. This thesis

argues that it is possible to use the eye-

gaze of a computer user in the interface to

aid the control of the application. Care

must be taken, though, that eye-gaze

tracking data is used in a sensible way,

since the nature of human eye-movements

is a combination of several voluntary and

involuntary cognitive processes.

The main reason for eye-gaze

based user interfaces being attractive is

that the direction of the eye-gaze can

express the interests of the user-it is a

potential porthole into the current

cognitive processes-and communication

through the direction of the eyes is faster

than any other mode of human

communication. It is argued that eye-gaze

tracking data is best used in multimodal

interfaces where the user interacts with the

data instead of the interface, in so-called

non-command user interfaces.

11. REFERENCES

http://www.eyegaze.com/content/

assistive-technology

http://www.eyegaze.com/content/

eyetracking-research-tools

http://www.gschlosser.de/

eyegaze_english.htm

http://www.sensorysoftware.com/

132.html

http://www.diku.dk/hjemmesider/

ansatte/panic/eyegaze/node19.html

http://www.eyetechds.com/