Eye-Gaze

First of all, thanks to my brother-in-law Todd for selling our car!  We are enjoying having the cash sitting in our bank account so much more than the car sitting in our driveway!  😀
In other news, this week Kevin and I were able to visit the Perlman Center at Cincinnati Children's so that Kevin could try out some eye-gaze technology.  As muscles in his fingers deteriorate, typing has become hunt-and-peck, or texting with thumbs.  In addition, it is difficult for him to hold his arms up to the keyboard.
Essentially, the eye-gaze camera sits at the bottom of the computer monitor and tracks where he is looking at the screen.  Then Kevin can "select" (or click) on something simply by "dwelling" there (looking longer) or through the use of some kind of a button, which come in different sizes and shapes so that people can use them in whatever way is most helpful--even with a foot or by moving a leg.  Kevin liked a smaller button that he could cup under his palm and activate by pressing down slightly.  The eye-gaze technology overall took some getting used to, but within the hour Kevin was able to use his eyes to change all sorts of settings and activate features that I'm not even sure the occupational therapist knew about.
We hope to have one more session at Perlman to explore various ACC (Augmented and Alternative Communication) devices that will combine the eye-gaze technology with a synthesized voice so that as speaking becomes more difficult he can still tell me what an amazing wife and mother I am, or at least troubleshoot my laptop when I want to throw the thing out the window....