Gaze-controlled Laser Pointer Platform for People with Severe Motor Impairments: Preliminary Test in Telepresence

This paper describes the implementation and the preliminary evaluation of a novel interaction solution for people with severe motor impairments, and particularly for those affected by Amyotrophic Laterals Sclerosis (ALS) in Locked-In State (LIS): patients able to control only the ocular muscles. The proposed communication approach allows the person to control a laser beam and interact with the environment or interlocutors in an intuitive way by pointing at objects through their gaze. For this, a tip-tilt laser control device was developed and mounted on a small robot equipped with a high definition video camera. In addition, a gaze-tracking user interface was developed to control of both systems, i.e., laser and robot. This new platform was then preliminary assessed through trials with 14 subjects without disabilities, who performed tasks of robot navigation and pointing at objects along its path. User experience was evaluated with encouraging results, indicating the proposed technology has real potential to assist communication and interaction acts of people with ALS.