The eyes have it

Millions of disabled people around Europe could use the internet for the first time thanks to improved eye-tracking lasers, due to be trialled in the UK in the next few months.

Finnish researchers are co-ordinating a pan-European effort to improve the hardware and software that helps the disabled control computer applications using only eye movement.

The Communication by Gaze Interaction (COGAIN) project is aiming to provide 150 disabled people in the UK with the technology to use everyday computer applications by the end of next month.

Although infrared lasers have been used to detect people’s eye movements for at least 10 years, few disabled people use them to interact with computers because the hardware and software are expensive.

The University of Tampere’s Kari-Jouko Raiha, professor of computer sciences and the project’s leader, said: ‘It [the laser] looks at the centre of the pupil and another point which is usually the glint — the reflection in the eye. From the way that they change, the system is able to detect when the eye moves.’