The Camera Mouse: visual tracking of body features to provide computer access for people with severe disabilities

The "Camera Mouse" system has been developed to provide computer access for people with severe disabilities. The system tracks the computer user\´s movements with a video camera and translates them into the movements of the mouse pointer on the screen. Body features such as the tip of the user\´s nose or finger can be tracked. The visual tracking algorithm is based on cropping an online template of the tracked feature from the current image frame and testing where this template correlates in the subsequent frame. The location of the highest correlation is interpreted as the new location of the feature in the subsequent frame. Various body features are examined for tracking robustness and user convenience. A group of 20 people without disabilities tested the Camera Mouse and quickly learned how to use it to spell out messages or play games. Twelve people with severe cerebral palsy or traumatic brain injury have tried the system, nine of whom have shown success. They interacted with their environment by spelling out messages and exploring the Internet.