Glasses to serve as mouse for disabled people

The system, called iOM, captures the head’s movements while the user moves the arrow to access the web pages. The eye blinking functions as the click.

“Basically there’s an infra red transmitter that serves to detect the eye blinking. And inside a little box, there’s a sensor for the head movements. That information is transmitted through a wire to the controller that interpreters that signal”, said the student Cleber Luiz Quadros.

Márcio Bender, their teacher and mentor, explains that the glasses are meant to help people with physical disability or amputees use their computer.

The idea came in 2012. Now, with encouragement of the institution and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the production of prototypes was possible. The prototype should cost $ 150 "Our goal is to build a project with the lowest manufacturing cost possible. Generally assistive technologies are too expensive ," explains Professor Márcio Bender. "It is not giving alms to such people, we just need to give them the ability for them to make their full activities, go to class, work . And we believe that with the IOM we will be able to include these people" says Professor Vinicius da Costa.

The glasses are being tested on Emily Hawk Borges, who was born with arthrogryposis, a disease that causes fibrosis and weakness in her muscles and is responsible for joint contractures. Normally, she needs to lie in bed to use the computer and uses her chin to move the mouse and access websites. After the experience, Emily is now much more at ease.

"It was much better. I enjoyed the experience". The girl's mother, Maria da Graça Hawk , is already seeing the results. "It will be a major evolution because when she typed she payed little attention to what she was writing, because she had to choose between looking at the letters or at the screen and now, with the glasses, she will be able to look at both simultaneously ".

Adapted from: http://glo.bo/2fhsdPr

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