An Eye Tracking System and Its Application in Aids for People with Severe Disabilities

The object of this paper is to present a set of techniques integrated into a low-lost eye tracking system. Eye tracking systems have many potential applications such as learning emotion monitoring systems, drivers' fatigue detection systems, etc. In this paper, we report how we use an eye tracking system to implement an "eye mouse" to provide computer access for people with severe disabilities. The proposed eye mouse allows people with severe disabilities to use their eye movements to manipulate computers. It requires only one low-cost Web camera and a personal computer. A fivestage algorithm is developed to estimate the directions of eye movements and then use the direction information to manipulate the computer. Several experiments were conducted to test the performance of the eye tracking system. Biomed Eng Appl Basis Comm, 2006(December); 18: 319-327.