Gaze Typing Through Foot-Operated Wearable Device
Vijay Rajanna · 2016
Gaze Typing, a gaze-assisted text entry method, allows individuals with motor (arm, spine) impairments to enter text on a computer using a virtual keyboard and their gaze. Though gaze typing is widely accepted, this method is limited by its lower typing speed, higher error rate, and the resulting visual fatigue, since dwell-based key selection is used. In this research, we present a gaze-assisted, wearable-supplemented, foot interaction framework for dwell-free gaze typing. The framework consists of a custom-built virtual keyboard, an eye tracker, and a wearable device attached to the user's foot. To enter a character, the user looks at the character and selects it by pressing the pressure pad, attached to the wearable device, with the foot. Results from a preliminary user study involving two participants with motor impairments show that the participants achieved a mean gaze typing speed of 6.23 Words Per Minute (WPM). In addition, the mean value of Key Strokes Per Character (KPSC) was 1.07 (ideal 1.0), and the mean value of Rate of Backspace Activation (RBA) was 0.07 (ideal 0.0). Furthermore, we present our findings from multiple usability studies and design iterations, through which we created appropriate affordances and experience design of our gaze typing system.