My Eye Gaze Computer

My son Chris and I were talking about the upgrade to my computer and how eye gaze is becoming increasingly popular with computer gaming. I have seen videos of it. 

I received my first eye gaze computer called Erica in 2007. It's short for... Eye Response Interface Computer Apparatus!  That was the time when I was loosing my ability to speak, it was extremely frustrating! I reached a point in that year where only my wife could understand what I was saying because she was with me most of the time.  

Unfortunately last year my great computer died a wicked death. I took to get it repaired but they said it was too old and they couldn't get the parts. It was a dinosaur in computer years! The good news is they were able to save my data and gave me an external hard drive! 

I had to transfer to my other computer which I have been practicing with for a while. It's called Tobii. I was very fortunate to have a smart speech therapist guide me through the process of picking the right computer for me. She offered me five different types of computers to test! When I worked for FedEx I absolutely loved testing the software. I would tell my coworkers that if you locked me in a room and told me that I would only test computer software, I would be a happy camper! I tested all five, it took me months. Finally I narrowed it down to two. Tobii and The Edge. I chose Tobii because it has a built-in camera and it has solid state internal components. 

The built-in camera was very important because I take my computer with me on road trips for example to my A. L. S. support group meetings and Erica was difficult to carry. Each time I feared that my caregiver would drop Erica on his camera and I would be without a computer! Oh 

I have an interesting story about the Tobii Company for you, they bought out (it was a hostile take over) the company that makes Erica a few years back and fired all of the people who were my friends. I got to know the Erica support people very well. A few years later Tobii bought out the top leading provider of eye gaze computing called Dynavox! I had a Dynavox once; I traded it in for Tobii in 2013. 

I never got used to Dynavox, was poor at tracking my eye but it was horrible with the Internet, I live on the Internet! 

This picture is of me at my support group meeting with Tobii. 

Tobii is most excellent at tracking my eyes! In fact Tobii eye tracking calibration gets better as you use it, the algorithms in the program are extremely well designed! I’m happy to say that I have perfected Tobii, it only took me a few months! I have to say that the Tobii support people are very knowledgeable and helped me with all my issues! 

That's why Tobii are entering into the world of gaming!

My new eye gaze computer, Tobii

I received Erica in June of 2007 and it was time to retire her. Every 5 years I can get a replacement eye gaze computer. In the early part of 2013 I contacted a speech therapist in Denver named Renee Karantounis and she suggested that I test some eye gaze computers before making my decision. Thank goodness she suggested it because she knew eye gaze computers to test. I ended up testing 5 computers into the summer. During that time I wrote the pros and cons of each. Before the testing I wrote a requirements document of exactly what I needed to replace Erica. The 5 were Dynavox, Tobii, Accent 1200 by Pentke, The Edge and Forbes.

As it turns out only two met my strict requirements! Most of them were only good at speaking what I was typing and nothing else. I spend all day on the internet. I must be able to send email, text messages and do Facebook. I also manage my care for example my prescriptions from the Veterans Administration and my 14 caregivers. I write daily reports to my caregivers telling them how to care for me.

In the end I choose Tobii because the company just upgraded their model. In second place was The Edge. I take my computer on the road to my monthly ALS support group meeting and Tobii’s camera is built into the base of the computer unlike Erica and The Edge. An exposed camera could be damaged. Also I needed a zoom feature because it’s difficult to go to the little red X in the upper right corner of the window to close the window with my eye. Tobii has a great zoom. I think that I made the right decision! The Veterans Administration bought me my Tobii and I received it on Oct 7^th, 2013! 

A Triumphant Tale

Hello everyone.
It's been exactly 3 years and 1 month since my ALS diagnosis. At times I get the feelings that this is just a bad dream and I will wake up with my old body. I know that my subconscious has not accepted my condition because all of my dreams have me walking. Luckily I'm a member of world wide organization (Living With ALS-LWALS on Yahoo) whose soul purpose is to provide a support network for PALS and CALS. The LWALS Internet Forum is filled chock full of information that helps me deal with ALS. Recently, there was very exciting news like this (a 10 year study resulting in finding the single gene that causes ALS). Here's the link:

http://www.als.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2520

Well ERICA is going great. She is allowing me to type faster and faster. I only have to stare at a letter on the keyboard for 0.7 seconds before she triggers a mouse click (I started at 1.0). I hear that other PALS have their ERICA's set at 0.5 seconds. As long as I have done a good job of calibrating my eye with ERICA at the start of the day, everything goes fine. During the day, I can even take a natural break, drive my wheelchair away then drive back to ERICA recalibrate and keep on working. I appreciate the way that ERICA is designed so that I can calibrate my eye without any assistance, except in the mornings to start up ERICA. About three months ago I received an upgrade to ERICA's program and now I can do more on the Internet. Surfing was hard using the old program. You could forget about doing a cut and paste, but now no problem. But what makes me excited is that I'm learning how to do everything that I used to do with my fingers and a keyboard, I can now do with my eye and ERICA's on-line keyboard. For example, most people I know are aware of the short cuts in Windows like Control A - to to select all text. Well with ERICA the Control key is not on the regular keyboard in ERICA. Real Estate is tight on my ERICA screen. Because I have to see the document or window that I'm typing on AND be able to see the keyboard so I can choose my letters (As you can see in the video below). ERICA is made up of many menus. I'm having to memorize what's on all the menus and where each key is located and how do I get to it. With each day I gain more confidence and with hope that someday, I can say that there is nothing I can't do.

Why did I spend all this time telling you this? I'm trying to express to my fellow PALS who might be interested in obtaining ERICA that she is not perfect. No computer system is without flaws. I suggest that you talk with a user in addition to the salesmen. So I will end this discussion about ERICA with a joke.

What is the difference between a computer salesman and a used car salesman?

[the answer is at the end of the Blog]

I just finished a giant software upgrade project for my Boy Scout troop. As you might know I'm one of the leaders in charge of our troops record keeping application. Kind of like what I did at FedEx. A few years before Chris and I joined, the troop bought Troopmaster. The system keeps track of the boy's advancement records and activities. It's on a server somewhere out in cyber space. I have 8 leaders using it. We print advancement reports for the scouts and camping rosters for the adults. Well we went from a 2005 version to a 2008 version. I did the data conversion last Saturday. Now I'm assisting each user with their upgrades on their computers. I'm very satisfied because I typed the installation guide from scratch with my eye! And the work reminds me of the good old days when I was a Business Systems Advisor (a Guru computer guy!) with FedEx.

I'm taking all my nutrition by a tube in my stomach. Actually I had the tube for two years now. Last year I made the mistake of trying to get all my nutrition by mouth. It took so long to eat and I ended up coughing all day and night. I lost 15 pounds last year as a result. Another reason is I could no longer swallow my vitamins and medicine pills. So when I stopped eating by mouth in the fall it didn't take long for me to gain my weight back. The formula that I'm drinking via my tube is packed full of healthy ingredients plus the liquid vitamins Hing found on the Internet for me. I don't taste food anymore. But I enjoy smelling food. This disease causes a person to go through so much misery by coughing and gagging to the point where you don't care about eating anymore. A very strange thing since our civilization is centered around food. If I were to say that I don't miss eating, I would be a liar. But I equally don't miss the misery that I went through. I even made it uncomfortable from my family to see me in agony. I have always been a person that accepts the cards that I was dealt. So here I am taking each day as it comes.

[the answer to the joke is "The used car salesman knows that he's lying !]

August Update

I was hoping by this time I would be writing this message using Erica. But Erica is not that easy to master. My biggest problem is getting the mouse pointer to the right place on the screen. I'm finding that when I look at an object on the screen, sometimes the mouse pointer goes there and other times it won't. It can be frustrating, especially when I'm use to having full control. Fortunately, I'm getting good advice from a PALS of mine who is an Erica expert. I met him through the Living With ALS on-line support group.


Above is a photo of me with Erica behind me. I'm a Skallywag. Look that one up in your dictionary. And yes, I'm growing a mustache.


A friend of mine wrote this at the start of an article on ALS awareness for the Denver Post in Colorado...
'Have you ever had a dream where you’re completely paralyzed? You can’t run or walk. You can’t move your arms or scream or make a sound - you’re terrified - then you wake up…relieved it was just a dream?'


Well, lately when I wake up from sleeping and my body wants to stretch, I try to move but can't. My muscles are so stiff, they won't respond to my commands. My limbs are too heavy for the remaining muscles to lift. It takes full concentration to move my muscles. How am I doing? In a word, weak. I can't stand on my own. I can't talk. My caregivers read my lips. I can't feed myself. I get the majority of my calories via my peg tube each day. I'm worried that I might loose my ability to drive my wheelchair soon. My hands are starting to club. Soon I won't be able to move my joystick as you can see in the picture below. So I'm working frantically to transfer my programs from my laptop to Erica. Here's a photo of me operating my joystick...



Hing, my wife, and I are constantly reinventing how to take care of me. She's a master problem solver. I love her dearly.

The good news is I'm in no pain and I can still eat a little. My breathing is good and I normally get a good nights rest. I love to go out. Yesterday, Hing took me for a haircut. I was excited just to be out of the house. As an added bonus, Hing drove to a carwash and I cheered on as she washed our van. I also made it through this year without catching a cold. My relationship with my family couldn't be better. My three week visit with my Mom was fantastic, she always pumps me up. Her next visit will be in October for the ALSA Walk to D'Feet ALS.



Chris is driving now, he just got his permit. He's doing good so far. Next to Hing, Chris is the best caregiver a father could ask for. I'm grateful. Chris is very good with computers now. Last night we trained Erica how to operate the TV while I was in bed. That was cool.

Major projects are - Erica, family history, reading my book, Boy Scouts, building my music collection, and trying not to be a pain.

Well there it is, the bad and the good.

Erica and me - Week 1

On Monday, I was partially trained on how to use Erica, my new eye gaze system. But I wasn't able to complete the training due to the fact that Eye Response Technologies (ERT) doesn't ship Erica devices with a fully functioning operating system. So my Eye Response representative contacted ERT to have them FedEx to me the special unlock key. The key was delivered the next day and I unlocked Erica from her cage by myself. No problem. My ERT rep/technician, Daniel Ponder, has agreed to return to Memphis next week. It's just as well, we had to order a wheelchair mount accessory, continue training, and he needs to hook me up to the Internet. I'm well versed in Windows XP, but my first attempt to hookup to the Internet failed. As an added bonus, Daniel's going to demonstrate a device that will allow me to operate my TV and stereo using Erica.

So I'm sorry to say I'm still using my laptop. And I'm going to need more practice. Yesterday, I typed the entire alphabet but it took me several attempts. I've mastered the backspace button thank you very much. Sometimes I get so excited with the fact that I'm actually typing with my eye, I start laughing out loud and loose control.



Erica is behaving herself so far, but as you know, some women are known to be 'high maintenance' and they demand your attention 24X7. Erica works by pointing an infrared camera into your eye and magically converts your eye movements into mouse movements. So I have to keep my head perfectly still. Then after the mouse cursor remains on any object in a window for a predetermined amount of time, Erica performs a left mouse click. One must be on your toes at all times. Since it's impossible for a human to keep their eyes focused on a single point the size of the letter 'O' for more than a few seconds, it can be very fast paced. Which accounts for my inordinate amount of typing mistakes.

I'm sure it will get easier for me as time goes by. I try to practice an hour each day.

My Erica eye gaze device arrived

Yesterday morning, my new Erica eye gaze device arrived via our friends at FedEx. This system will allow me to operate a computer with my eye. I can't wait to use it. But first I need help setting it up and learning how to use it. That should happen early next week.

So stay tuned. I plan op doing a full documentory for my fellow PALS. So far I'm really impressed with the quality of Erica and the excellent customer service I've received from Eye Response Technologies.
To learn about Erica go to http://www.eyeresponse.com/Disabilities/ERICA_System.aspx