Evaluating gaze-driven power wheelchair with navigation support for persons with disabilities

Abstract

Abstract-This article describes a novel add-on for powered wheelchairs that is composed of a gaze-driven control system and a navigation support system. The add-on was tested by three users. All of the users were individuals with severe disabilities and no possibility of moving independently. The system is an add-on to a standard power wheelchair and can be customized for different levels of support according to the cognitive level, motor control, perceptual skills, and specific needs of the user. The primary aim of this study was to test the functionality and safety of the system in the user's home environment. The secondary aim was to evaluate whether access to a gaze-driven powered wheelchair with navigation support is perceived as meaningful in terms of independence and participation. The results show that the system has the potential to provide safe, independent indoor mobility and that the users perceive doing so as fun, meaningful, and a way to reduce dependency on others. Independent mobility has numerous benefits in addition to psychological and emotional well-being. By observing users' actions, caregivers and healthcare professionals can assess the individual's capabilities, which was not previously possible. Rehabilitation can be better adapted to the individual's specific needs, and driving a wheelchair independently can be a valuable, motivating training tool.

Eye‐controlled, power wheelchair performs well for ALS patients

“…These results are similar to those reported previously in a study of power wheelchair use by three users with severe disabilities. Users reported that a gaze‐controlled interface was enjoyable to use, and provided a method to preserve independence . Previous studies have integrated other input mechanisms, such as breath or EEG, to augment the sensitivity and accuracy of gaze control .…”

“…Studies that counter the relationship between mobility and QOL show that social interactions and leisure activities are more important determinants of QOL than mobility . Additionally, motor control systems in commercially available power wheelchairs may have sub‐optimal UIs, which may be nonintuitive, have delayed response times, or require motor input or complex abstract cognitive processing . Our goal in developing this prototype eye‐gaze controlled wheelchair was to develop an intuitive technology which would use preserved oculomotor control, enable basic mobility tasks, and yield a favorable user experience for ALS patients.…”

“…18 Additionally, motor control systems in commercially available power wheelchairs may have sub-optimal UIs, which may be nonintuitive, have delayed response times, or require motor input or complex abstract cognitive processing. 10 Our goal in developing this prototype eye-gaze controlled wheelchair was to develop an intuitive technology which would use preserved oculomotor control, enable basic mobility tasks, and yield a favorable user experience for ALS patients. Therefore, the secondary objective of this study was to evaluate the self-reported user experience with the eye-controlled UI, including responsiveness, performance, and ease of use.…”

Development of Innovative HMI Strategies for Eye Controlled Wheelchairs in Virtual Reality

“…It is worth noting that wearing additional equipment may result uncomfortable for the user and therefore it would be highly desirable to reduce the invasiveness of the technology. To this aim, other researches in this area [25] have proven that the task can also be solved adopting external devices. However, an eye-tracking system as the one used for their experiments is rather expensive, considerably reducing the affordability of a complete system especially by a private user.…”

“…Besides requiring the use of a wearable device, electrooculography is an efficient diagnosis tool, but also in this case it may turn out to be fatiguing, and the number of commands that can be configured is somehow limited. This is the reason why we have chosen to use an external device, similarly to previous studies [25], but adopting an affordable system that can be easily configured and customized to fit the requirements of the specific application context.…”