UK Students Develop Eye Movement-Sensing Pong for Disabled Gamers

Students from Imperial College London have modified an open source version of the 1972 arcade game Pong to allow physically disabled players to control in-game paddles using eye movements. Players wear special glasses that use infrared light and a webcam to track the motion of one eye. A laptop linked to the webcam processes eye movement and maps it to one of two player-controlled paddles in Pong. The student developers note that the technology could be adapted for use in more advanced games and other applications, including eye-controlled wheelchair movement and computer cursors. "Remarkably, our undergraduates have created this piece of neurotechnology using bits of kit that you can buy in a shop, such as webcams," said the students' team supervisor Aldo Faisal. "The game that they’ve developed is quite simple, but we think it has enormous potential, particularly because it doesn’t need lots of expensive equipment." Faisal continues: "We hope to eventually make the technology available online so anyone can have a go at creating new applications and games with it and we’re optimistic about where this might lead." "We hope it could ultimately provide entertainment options for people who have very little movement. In the future, people might be able to blink to turn pages in an electronic book, or switch on their favourite song, with the roll of an eye."