Using the mouth as a computer keyboard

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review work at the Georgia Institute of Technology that uses magnetic sensor arrays to construct assistive technology systems for disabled people.

Design/methodology/approach

The innovative Tongue Drive system is described, along with its advantages over other mouth‐based control devices. The results of practical tests on able‐bodied volunteers are reported. Finally, there is a review of other related projects by the same researchers.

Findings

Magnetic field sensors, wireless communications and feature extraction algorithms take advantage of the dexterity of the tongue to form an unobtrusive and non‐invasive control system with a large set of commands. Novice users achieved an information transfer rate of about 150 bits/min.

Originality/value

This paper displays the ingenuity and effectiveness of systems built on magnetic sensor arrays.

Citation

Connolly, C. (2009), "Using the mouth as a computer keyboard", Sensor Review, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 200-202. https://doi.org/10.1108/02602280910967602