Mouse May be Replaced by "Nouse"

mteichrob writes "A Canadian inventor has designed a computer mouse steered by movements of the nose and eyelids. The invention, dubbed a "Nouse," is meant to help people with a disability use a computer. I think this could also be quite useful for the average office lackey like me! As good as my ergonomic mouse/keyboard combo is, less body movement is still a better replacement."

Comments

Questions

[nuclear305]

A mouse that can be moved by the nose and eyelids? I think the most obvious question is, "What happens when you sneeze?" I'd hate to accidentally send a reboot command during a sneeze.

I'd also be curious to see how it would affect twitch gaming where quick reflexes with a mouse are paramount.

Re:Questions

[MarkGriz]

"What happens when you sneeze?" I'd hate to accidentally send a reboot command during a sneeze.

There are only drivers available for Windows, so this shouldn't cause any undue inconvenience.

Re:Questions

[sbowles]

I think the most obvious question is, "What happens when you sneeze?"

Or when you pick ...er... scratch your nose.

Re:Questions

[LnxAddct]

This is nothing new. Alternatives to the physical hardware with which we interact with our computers has been researched for years. I haven't rtfa, but I'm going to assume that the nose is tracked and associated with the mouse, and two blinks == one click, and three blinks == double click. I did this over two years ago, and I know alot of others who have too, just go to any university. Anyway, tracking the nose is good, but I found tracking your irises(is that even a word) easier and significantly more accurate. I found it easier because you are already focusing on that area for blinks, you already know where the eyes are so there is no need to go searching for other features. Also, the eyes stick out significantly more than a nose, and depending on the lighting, a nose can be very hard to detect because it is skin and blends with your face. I found using the eyes for mouse movement more accurate because you have redundancy, instead of hoping that you found the nose (which you only have one of) and then hoping that you tracked it right, using the eyes you can double check all your answers to a certain precision (doesn't work with a "dead" eye). Also, the iris is clearly defined and surrounded by white in all people. Using the nose, or mouth, for tracking was awkward because as you move your nose up or down you have to move your eyes opposite of that direction to stay focused on the mouse. When you use your eyes, they naturally are pointing where ever the mouse is, and thats most likely your intended area of focus. One final note, as this is getting long, some people may be wondering why 2 blinks = 1 click, etc... Well at first I did have 1 blink == 1 click and 2 blinks == 2 clicks. Debugging this was hell! It drove me literally insane. My mouse kept clicking when it wasn't supposed to and I had no idea why. Then after quite a while of damn near mathematically proving my code to be correct, I realized it was me inadvertenly blinking! Now your thinking, "Duh!", but when its late at night and your on a roll coding and testing, you dont really pay attention to when you blink, I mean we blink all day long and never realize it. So inorder to effectivly click with the eyes, you need to add an extra blink. Just my 2 cents. Oh yea, I also am unfortunately no longer working on that project(I was going to release it on sf.net or something) but around the same time I migrated entirely to linux and my damn Creative Camera didn't have drivers. I'm still waiting to get a logitech cam, any recommendations?
Regards,
Steve
p.s. I forgot to mention that tracking the nose is useful for one application that me and friends found, if you make a triangle with your nose and eyes then you can get a pretty good idea of the orientation of someone's head in relation to 3 dimensional space. Using the eyes isn't very useful for more then 2 dimensions.

Less Movement

[andyrut]

Hooray for less body movement! Let's give this technology a test drive:

Me: Twitches nose left
Computer: Moves cursor left
Me: Neat! Blinks
Computer: Opens folder
Me: Excellent! Hey, who put all this black pepper in my sandwich? Aaaaachoooo!
Computer: Reformats hard drive

Oh, and the Nouse has already been covered on Slashdot. Come on, a simple Slashdot search of "nouse" turns this one up.

Re:Less Movement

[MyDixieWrecked]

yeah, but I can't get the damn cursor to stop shaking while I look at pr0n.

pr0n in my cache...

[JustDisGuy]

no - really, I just sneezed!

No handed navigation?

[phyruxus]

MMMmmmmmmm....... :)

What? I like to eat soup while I surf the web.. ya' perv.

;)

Counterstrike...

[mtrisk]

I can just see it now!
*Wiggle*
*Sniff*
HEADSHOT!

Eying your way around the desktop

[ackthpt]

I thought they already had something like this that followed your eye movements.

"The technology that watches you watching IT"

Department of Homeland Security Approved

even more sedentary?

[tverbeek]

less body movement is still a better replacement.

Perhaps if your goal is to become as fit as Stephen Hawking, but through lack of exercise rather than disease.

Nouse for Nose As Mouse?

[Marxist Hacker 42]

If it's the same one (I couldn't access the CBC report linked to so I googled it) then it's much more than just using your nose and eyelids for a mouse- it's full face tracking software at a subpixel resolution.

Which is a really cool idea- it means that a webcam can replace the mouse.

Nouse Shmouse...

[GillBates0]

I'll be impressed when they train a real mouse to type, point, click etc in response to voice commands.

That'll also make it more fun when Windows crashes, because I'll have something more cuddly/furry to bang on instead of the keyboard.

for the unix guys....

[mrpuffypants]

or, perhaps it'll be replaced by keyboard

All jokes aside

[Walter Wart]

We all understand that this will never replace the mouse and keyboard. Hands are just, well, more dextrous.

But for some disabled it will be a godsend. High spinal cord injuries and other conditions can make it difficult to use or control the hands to the degree required by mouse and keyboard. The ability to use the face will make life a lot easier for these people.

Re:All jokes aside

[toxcspdrmn]

Hands are just, well, more dextrous.

... yet on the other hand, more sinister.

Dmitry "Nouse" Gorodnichy's Homepage

[Digital_Quartz]

You can find Dmitry (the inventor's) webpage here. Lots of interesting stuff, including some interesting facial recognition and tracking work.

Download it and give it a try

[Da VinMan]

Here

I don't have a web-cam handy, so if someone could give this a spin a let us know how well it works, that would be very much appreciated.

If it works well enough, I would definitely use something like this to replace my mouse for everyday tasks. It wouldn't replace the keyboard, but it's always been the mouse that's caused most of my RSI-like symptoms.