Why Are Eye Mice Unpopular? — A Detailed Comparison of Head and Eye Controlled Assistive Technology Pointing Devices

Abstract

Head-based and eye-based assistive technology pointing devices, or head and eye mice, are used to enable computer control in a similar manner to standard mice, by simply moving the cursor to where a user is pointing either with their head or their eyes. These devices have been in existence for many years within the motor-disabled community and over this time there has been widespread acceptance and adoption of head mice, with many disabled people using these devices to access computers and communication devices. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that eye-based pointing is widely and quickly dismissed as a usable means of pointing in assistive technology due to difficulty of use and inaccuracy, making the potential advantages of eye-based pointing difficult to realise in the face of such quick decisions not to use this approach. It is necessary to understand in detail what the limitations of eye-based pointing are and how these can be overcome. Making relative performance comparisons with head-based pointing can usefully do this, as this is an established technique of assistive technology pointing.