A year 11 student from a Sydney high school has developed computer software to help people with upper body paralysis use their computers with their eyes.
Sam Kantor, who is currently in year 11 at Moriah College, recently travelled to Phoenix to take part in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), representing Australia as part of the New South Wales Young Scientists delegation where he competed against roughly 1500 students from around the world.
Kantor’s project for the science fair – the Eye Connect – has been in development for 12 months, including six months developing the prototype and six months of testing.
His software works by helping people with upper body disabilities control their computer using eye movements through their computer’s webcam.
It can be used across several different operating platforms, such as Linux, Macs, and Windows.
“Currently, people are using things such as switch-based technology, brain computer interfaces, and even eye gauging technology. But the problem is there’s all this required personalised hardware that costs hundreds and thousands of dollars,” Kantor said.
“If we just create intelligent software that uses the kind of hardware that people have accessible to them, the prices can be reduced to as much as zero.”
Kantor has managed to achieve this.
Blink detection technology
The idea for his software came about when he was in year 10 and taking an accelerated semester of computer science at the University of New South Wales.
During the course, he was given free rein to create anything he wanted as part of the final mark.
At first Kantor explored computer vision, but he realised it could be more than just a simple vision project and a real product that could help people with disabilities.
Kantor has developed two types of technology, depending on the person’s level of paralysis. Elements include blink-based control, with Kantor developing his own blink detection algorithm.
This is done by capturing facial images and converting the eye to a grey scale picture. Each pixel on this image is then analysed, and his software can display real time eye analysis on the user’s screen.
The software then finds clusters of pixels within the eye region that contrasts with the skin colour around the eye. The main eye shape is then isolated and Kantor’s algorithm uses co-ordinate geometry to determine the eye width and height to determine whether the eye is open or closed.
“[The technology] didn't exist yet, so I had to create reliable methods of low detection using computer vision,” Kantor said.
“The eventual outcome after lots of testing and modifying the code was around 99 percent accuracy, which is unprecedented currently in the field of computer vision.”
Kantor has been working on the project by himself and has developed it without any external funding.
“It’s kind of unique in the sense of the scope of how it can help people without requiring a lot of funds to supply and provide it,” he said.
Kantor recently met with occupational therapists at the Prince of Wales Hospital, and has been able to receive feedback about the software.
“They seemed very excited about this software and how it can truly help people without requiring the kind of expensive and obtrusive hardware that they currently use,” Kantor said.
“So it really acts as a more convenient and often even more effective method without requiring the same amount of [money that] current human interaction systems do.”
The software has now been released on SourceForge, an open source directory that allows people to download software free of charge.
Kantor has carried out human testing, but he would like to conduct trials with real patients to improve the software and make it compatible with other devices, such as mobile phones and infrared communication for electronics such as televisions.
“I think that the way to conduct those trials with people suffering upper body paralysis will be through forging a relationship with the [Motor Neuron Disease Association] and various local hospitals,” he said.
“So that’s an effort that I'm trying to work on, and hopefully I'll be able to conduct those trials in the upcoming months.”
Innovation in Australia
After being able to meet so many different students from around the world at ISEF, Kantor believes Australia is well-placed in terms of scientific innovation – the NSW delegation won category awards, while another student won a non-category award.
“Australia’s very much at the forefront in terms of the projects at ISEF, and this is a really good indicator of our strong education system,” he said.
Kantor said one way STEM subjects could be encouraged at the primary school level is to make students realise that maths and science are different to what people might think.
“Students need to understand that science is not about reading a large amount of books or trying to memorise facts. It’s actually about creating new and exciting things that really can be fun and uplifting,” he said.
“Once you see the fact that science is essentially a form of creativity, it becomes fun and appealing, and I feel that students in primary school should be engaging in these kinds of projects and learning about the true beauty and fun that science holds.”
[Image: Courtesy Eye Connect Video]
Don't forget to register for the Australian Engineering Conference 2016 in Brisbane on November 23-25.