Writing faster with your eyes. (Computers).Eye-tracking technology allows people who are unable to type or manipulate a mouse to use a computer. While a camera captures their eye movements, they can move a cursor with their gaze or type on an on-screen keyboard An on-screen keyboard, or virtual keyboard, is a graphical computer keyboard that enables people with physical disabilities to use a computer. If a person is not able to push the keys on an ordinary keyboard, he or she can push the keys on a virtual keyboard (picture) shown by staring at individual keys. But darting the eyes around like that can be dizzying, and it's a slow process. A new gaze-operated text-entry system called Dasher dash·er n. 1. One that dashes, especially the plunger of an ice-cream freezer. 2. Sports The ledge along the top of the boards of an ice rink. is faster, more accurate, and easier to use than existing systems, say its inventors in the Aug. 22 Nature. "Eyes didn't evolve to push buttons" says coinventor David J David J. Haskins (b. April 24, 1957, in Northampton, England) is a British alternative rock musician. He was the bassist for the seminal gothic rock band Bauhaus. Life and work .C. MacKay of the University of Cambridge in England. Rather, eyes are good at searching. Dasher is like a fast-paced video game where the user hunts for letters. Each letter is in a box sized according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the letter's frequency in written English. After a user chooses each letter in a word, the system predicts the probability of the following letter and resizes the boxes accordingly. More likely letters are in larger boxes that draw the eye. A person's gaze at a box selects that letter. The system takes advantage of the predictability of normal language, MacKay says. The researchers tested Dasher against a gaze-operated on-screen keyboard. Using Dasher, people could write up to 25 words per minute Noun 1. words per minute - the rate at which words are produced (as in speaking or typing) wpm rate - a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit; "they traveled at a rate of 55 miles per hour"; "the rate of change was faster than expected" , compared with only 15 words per minute using an on-screen keyboard. Dasher users also committed far fewer errors. Besides eye-tracking computer setups, any pointing device An input device used to move the pointer (cursor) on screen. The major pointing device is the mouse for the desktop computer and the touchpad for the laptop, although many road warriors bring along a mouse. , such as a mouse or touch-screen wand, can drive Dasher, MacKay says. "People find it fun to use."--K.C. |
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