eye gaze
What Are My Eyes Really Telling You?
Eyes are a fascinating part of the human body. It makes me think of common quotes and comments such as“eyes are a window to the soul,”“in the blink of an eye”and“the first camera is one’s eye.” Working with eye-gaze technology and those who need it on a daily basis has really opened my eyes, pun intended. In observing others use of eye- gaze technology, I found that I was learning more about their eyes than I ever imagined, and it wasn’t just about language and communi- cation software, but I was truly seeing their interaction with the world around them through this technology. My-co-presenter Barb Kelii and I met while working with patients living with Amyotrophic Lateral Scle- rosis (ALS). We are both now working with students in school districts. During my transition back to working in schools is when I really began to wonder, if eye-gaze technology can help me reach someone who had language and lost it, how much more so could it help me reach someone who never had the chance to express themselves, gain the language they need? This year I took time to reflect on eye gaze. I thought about how far it’s come and how it can help those who are not readily picked to try eye-gaze technology. Eye gaze research has come along away and you can tell that just by the size of the eye trackers in production today versus 10 and 20 years ago. In recent years, there has been more eye-gaze research than ever before. If you look at current research taking place in various universities and technology institutions around the world, you’ll be amazed at what eye gaze can really tell you about different of areas of daily living. There are studies in social sciences, marketing, human and computer interaction, medical fields, pediatrics, sports, engineering,
gaming and virtual reality (VR) and in so many more areas of life. A good website to get a snapshot view across many areas of eye gaze research is www.tobiipro.com. This website has one of the the most compiled list of current eye-gaze research that is concisely summa- rized for those who want to begin exploring eye-gaze research. For example, there were four areas of eye gaze research that fascinated me: student behavior, consumer research/marketing, sports and infant/child research. Student Behavior The User eXperience and Interaction Research Center (Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia) is one facility using eye-gaze technology to analyze the study behavior of students in real a classroom environment. This facility has a classroom equipped with eye trackers allowing them to take data on student behavior and learning. These students are taking a course in eye gaze, but are able to provide researchers with valuable information while doing so. Clemson University, in Clemson, South Carolina, also has an eye- tracking classroom. Students from different disciplines of study are able to participate in eye tracking courses and design eye tracking experiments (see Q&A with Dr. Andrew Duchowski, professor at Clemson University). Implications? What if we could analyze students’behavior inside the classroom environment in the United States’primary, elementary and secondary
Rachell Johnson MCD CCC-SLP Rachell has 13 years of experience in the field of speech-language pathology and has been working with assistive technology since 2011, specializing in eye gaze evaluations and treatment. She currently works for The Stepping Stones Group and is serving Florence One Schools in Florence, South Carolina as 1 of the District’s 2 Assistive Technology Team Leaders. “Highlights of my career have been working for Live Life Therapy Solutions in conjunction with the Minnesota Technology For Home Grant, serving as Assistive Technology Program Manager for the DC Maryland and Virginia Chapter of the ALS Association, and of course Attending and Presenting at Closing the Gap 2012-2018!”
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February / March, 2019 | www.closingthegap.com/membership Closing The Gap © 2019 Closing The Gap, Inc. All rights reserved.
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