Assistive Technology for Cursor Control (Navigation, Selection, Pointing, and Clicking) by Capturing Hand Movements
Brian A. Barsky, Professor
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2023 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2024.
This project is concerned with assistive technology that enables users with fine motor control difficulties to navigate, select, point, and click without physically manipulating a mouse. The idea is to use a camera to capture the user’s hand movements.
There are many individuals who do not have the ability to control the pointer easily by moving a physical mouse. Unfortunately, there no viable alternatives due to the fact that the mouse has become an essential input device for all modern computers. Inability to control the mouse could be caused by impaired sensation from a wide variety of conditions and illnesses. This project aims to help those with impaired sensation by developing a computer-vision based input system with a camera as its input device.
The current project is developing a system that comprises three modules of detection, tracking, and response: (1) The detection stage extracts the hand and recognizes its gesture which can then be used to alter the users' control; for example, a specific movement could correspond to a click of the mouse. (2) The hand is traced by a tracker and its movement is filtered with an anti-shake filter to perform a more stable movement. (3) In the response stage, the granularity (e.g., dots per inch) of the cursor is adjusted according to the user’s speed of hand movement.
Hours: to be negotiated
Related website: https://barskygroup.wixsite.com/home
Related website: https://barskygroup.wixsite.com/home