In January 2019, WSU Health Sciences and Team Gleason announced formal collaboration around the Steve Gleason Institute for Neuroscience. These diseases account for billions of dollars in health care costs annually. What’s more, the incidence of these diseases is expected to soar as the population ages, affecting millions of Americans. When it comes to developing a cure for ALS and other debilitating brain diseases like Parkinson’s, researchers are still seeking answers to how the brain works at its most basic level. The terminal neuromuscular disease has since left him immobile and reliant on eye-controlled technology to communicate. Five years later, he was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 34.
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The work is motivated by WSU alumnus Steve Gleason, who helped take WSU to the Rose Bowl in 1997 and whose diving punt block for the New Orleans Saints in 2006 rallied the hurricane-ravaged city. Steve Gleason Institute for NeuroscienceĪdvancements in eye-tracking technology are one of the many ways that Washington State University and its Steve Gleason Institute for Neuroscience are offering for families to continue finding purpose, extend quality of life and lessen stress and fatigue. The detectable reflections in both the pupil and cornea are registered, and then the eye tracker calculates the physical location of the user’s gaze on the display screen, allowing the users to operate a computer without physical input. “It’s the difference for patients between being able to communicate or not.”Įye trackers work by emitting near-infrared light toward users’ pupils.
#EYE TRACKING TESTING SOFTWARE#
“Eye-tracking technology is a really important part of palliative care,” said Jon Campbell, a senior research software development engineer at Microsoft Research who advised the students on the project. “With our design, we hope to provide a foundation in which eye tracking manufacturers can improve their designs to better suit their clientele,” said Ryan Magoon, who worked on the project and graduated in December. Looking like an extravagant Halloween decoration, the sophisticated robot, which has artificial eyes and a Jason-like facemask, is controlled by an X-box controller and uses simulated facial features to test the eye-tracking devices.
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The project aims to test eye trackers under real-world conditions with the goal of reducing time, effort, and cost associated with customizing the technology to patients.
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The devices, which help patients perform a variety of functions, such as clicking and scrolling, have to track a person’s gaze perfectly in order to meet their users’ needs.Īs part of their senior design project through the Industrial Design Clinic, a WSU student team developed a testing robot that could help alleviate some of the challenges of matching the technology with people. Yet, the technology is not standardized and trying to customize it to the patient can be frustrating and exhausting, especially for the patient. As patients lose their ability to speak, move a mouse, or express their thoughts, they and their families are often left bewildered and overwhelmed. Neurodegenerative disease, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), leads to progressive muscle weakness and paralysis. When people are set to receive eye-tracking technology, they are facing devastating challenges: