Our client (through his church) is a man who has had a stroke and has been in a care home for several years as he is unable to communicate or do anything for himself. He is very frustrated as his brain still works but he cannot talk or write.

After an initial visit to see if there was any way we could help him, we developed a solution using a laptop with an eye tracker built into it. We chose a laptop so that it can be mounted on his wheelchair and allow him to be more mobile e.g. when going to church.

The eye tracker works with specialised software to allow the user to select letters by staring at a screen based keyboard . Once a word or sentence has been formed, the software will speak the words using a synthesised (English) voice.

We delivered and set up the system and spent some time training our client and a friend of his in the use of the system and, by the time we left, he was already learning to type letters on the screen.

Going forward, the system will allow the user to control the laptop so it would be possible to use the internet or type documents.

If you would like to more about this project or you think we may be able to help someone you know then please get in touch.