LOOK Samsung develops "eye mouse" to help people with disabilities

Samsung Electronics has introduced EYECAN+, the company's second-generation eye mouse that will assist people with disabilities. This is an upgraded version of Samsung's first eye mouse, EYECAN, that was introduced in March 2012. It was developed with 17 month-long contribution from Hyung-Jin Shin, a graduate student at Yonsei University who was born quadriplegic.In the form of a single-unit, portable box that sits below the monitor, the EYECAN+ mouse works by wirelessly calibrating with the user's eyes, remembering each user's unique eye characteristics. Now, users with disabilities can compose and edit documents as well as browse the web through simple eye movement.The mouse only requires the user to be situated between 60cm to 70cm from the monitor. It does not require the user to be in any specific position as it can used while seated or lying down.  There will be a total of 18 commands such as "copy" or "paste", all of which only require blinking or eye movement. Additional custom commands can be created as well such as "print" (Ctrl + P).SiJeong Cho, vice president, community relations, Samsung Electronics, said:  “EYECAN+ is the result of a voluntary project initiated by our engineers, and reflects their passion and commitment to engage more people in our community."While Samsung will not commercialise EYECAN+, the company will manufacture a limited quantity to donate to charity organisations. Both the technology and design of EYECAN+ will soon be made open source and made accessible to both companies and organisations that wish to commercialise the eye mouse.