Volitional and Real-Time Control Cursor Based on Eye Movement Decoding Using a Linear Decoding Model

The aim of this study is to build a linear decoding model that reveals the relationship between the movement information and the EOG (electrooculogram) data to online control a cursor continuously with blinks and eye pursuit movements. First of all, a blink detection method is proposed to reject a voluntary single eye blink or double-blink information from EOG. Then, a linear decoding model of time series is developed to predict the position of gaze, and the model parameters are calibrated by the RLS (Recursive Least Square) algorithm; besides, the assessment of decoding accuracy is assessed through cross-validation procedure. Additionally, the subsection processing, increment control, and online calibration are presented to realize the online control. Finally, the technology is applied to the volitional and online control of a cursor to hit the multiple predefined targets. Experimental results show that the blink detection algorithm performs well with the voluntary blink detection rate over 95%. Through combining the merits of blinks and smooth pursuit movements, the movement information of eyes can be decoded in good conformity with the average Pearson correlation coefficient which is up to 0.9592, and all signal-to-noise ratios are greater than 0. The novel system allows people to successfully and economically control a cursor online with a hit rate of 98%.