By Jennifer Hooker, IEN Staff
July 3, 2008—The band members of Kiss may soon have another use for their grotesquely long tongues as researchers as at Georgia Tech recently discussed its Tongue Drive System. (Click here for a Reuters video of the system in action.)
It’s on the tip of my tongue
The assistive technology is intended for the severely disabled and consists of magnet that’s the size of a grain of rice, which is attached to a user’s tongue by tissue adhesive, piercing, or implantation (ouch!).
The system also includes a bevy of magnetic field sensors that are mounted on a headset or orthodontic brace inside the mouth. The sensor output signals are then wirelessly transmitted to a portable computer.
“We choose the tongue to operate the system because unlike the hands and feet, which are controlled by the brain through the spinal cord, the tongue is directly connected to the brain by a cranial nerve that generally escapes damage in severe spinal cord industries or neuromuscular diseases,” said Maysam Ghovanloo, assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Tongue Twister
The Tongue Drive prototype was tested among 6 able-bodied users when controlling a computer. The users simulated mouse movements and clicks with results at almost 100% accuracy. The prototype also showed a response time of less than one second, which is equivalent to a transfer rate of about 150 bits per minute.
Tests for power wheelchair steering have also been conducted among 12 able-bodied users, with plans to begin testing among the disabled.
According to research from Georgia Tech, the Tongue Drive system can potentially recognize several tongue movements, which can represent different commands. “An individual could potentially train our system to recognize touching each tooth as a different command,” said Ghovanloo.
Tongue Tied
The research team has started to develop software to interface the Tongue Drive system with communication tools, including speech synthesizers, readers, and text generators.
They also plan on adding control commands that allow users to switch into a standby mode when eating, sleeping, or talking. As far as we’re concerned, that should be a major priority as images of wheelchair rolling amuck fly through our heads.
(Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech)