Gaming with gaze

Technology that allows gamers to control game functions with only their eyes is helping to open virtual worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft to people with severe motor disabilities.

The gaming-with-gaze software - a first version of which has been made publicly available for free - is one of several applications to emerge from the EU-funded programme COGAIN.

The programme, which was first reported by The Engineer in 2005, is aimed at coordinating efforts from developers of new communications tools for people with disabilities using gaze and eye-tracking technology.

For people suffering from conditions such as cerebral palsy, motor neurone disease (MND) or so-called locked-in syndromes, being able to move around and interact in a virtual environment is a ‘truly liberating experience’, said Howell Istance, a computer scientist who helped develop the software.

‘Until now, gaze-tracking technology has mainly been used for typing with visual keyboards, for browsing the web and other text-based applications. We have taken it to an entirely new level by using eye movements to control an avatar in a virtual environment, allowing people with disabilities to appear and interact just like able-bodied people if they wish,’ explained Istance of De Montfort University.