French System Lets You Write With Your Eyes

In recent years the world of medicine has inched toward potential cures for certain kinds of cancers and even HIV, but for those who are paralyzed and confined to wheelchairs, a remedy remains a very distant hope. Luckily a number of tech-powered solutions have been developed that allow the paralyzed to attain some independence. Now a new innovation that allows anyone to use their eyes to write and draw promises to deliver yet another level of personal freedom to the paralyzed.

The development was revealed in a paper published this week in Current Biology. Neuroscientist Jean Lorenceau, the director of research at the French National Center for Scientific Research, developed a method that uses an optical illusion known as "reverse phi motion" to create a target that allows the eye to execute smooth and controlled lines.

According to Lorenceau, "Volitional control over smooth eye movements is at best rudimentary. Here, I introduce a novel, temporally modulated visual display, which, although static, sustains smooth eye movements in arbitrary directions." Wearing an infrared video camera to track and relay eye movements to the screen, Lorenceau's test subjects were consistently able to write with their eyes at a rate of 20-30 characters per minute with only brief training on the system.

Lorenceau himself has mastered the practice of what he calls "eye writing" and shows off his ability to write in cursive in a video (below) that displays the seamless functionality of the system.

"After brief training, participants gain volitional control over smooth pursuit eye movements and can generate digits, letters, words, or drawings at will," Lorenceau wrote. "For persons deprived of limb movement, this offers a fast, creative, and personal means of linguistic and emotional expression."

Although the eye writing system is no where near hitting the commercial market, Lorenceau does plan to improve upon the mechanism with future versions designed to assist ALS patients as well as act as a possible machine interface.

Last year, Tobii, a company that develops eye tracking and control technology, partnered with Lenovo to build a prototype computer that responds to eye movements like they were mouse clicks. For more, see .