DEVELOPMENT OF AN EYE TRACKING AND ON-SCREEN POINTING SYSTEM FOR PHYSICALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE

Abstract

Eye tracking has become a popular field of research recently. It is not only getting more advanced but also giving rise to new research fields like eye tracking in neuro-architecture, e-sports etc. This project is a small step towards the wide-open research area of eye tracking. It has been developed with a vision to help the quadriplegic patients, who have limited movement capacity of their body. Due to their restricted movement, they have serious difficulties while working with computers and other electronic devices. Their needs might not be fully satisfied by current assistive technology, so a sophisticated eye tracking and on-screen pointing is required. With the help of this technology, physically disabled people will be able to communicate and use digital platforms more easily and with greater confidence thanks to a consistent, flexible, and intuitive interface. This technology aims to improve the quality of life for people with physical disabilities and encourage their active involvement in a variety of activities, such as social interactions, sports, education, and entertainment, by providing increased accessibility and inclusivity. The motivation behind developing an interactive system is to help people who have limited physical movement. Currently available solutions are in some cases costly. Whereas the proposed system in this research is more cost effective. This proposed system tracks the eye gaze using the webcam of a computer. Then it analyzes and responds with the output that in which region the person sitting in front of the camera is looking at. Taking input from the user’s eye movement, the system moves the mouse on the screen. This study provides a landmark based machine learning model that can track eye gaze and suggest designated message for the gaze. The accuracy of the proposed system is around 90%. This system can be an easy to install and more cost-effective solution to the patients suffering from physical disability. Hopefully this system will provide a more user-friendly way to quadriplegic patients in terms of communicating with the outside world.