Achievement

Research continues on hands free control interfaces for people who are not able to use standard input devices (e.g., keyboard or mouse). Research is focusing on both gaze based and EMG/EEG based input devices. These input modes are being examined for type-to-speech systems such as Gaze Talk and Dasher. The feasibility of gaze and EMG based systems has been demonstrated with several applications. A critical question currently being evaluated is whether people can utilize EEG as a voluntary means of control in a closed-loop task (e.g., controlling cursor position). The guiding hypothesis is that people can learn to control EEG voluntarily, if it is included in a dynamic task with salient feedback. This work involves several case studies with disabled students (i.e., cerebral palsy and birth defects).