Tongue Drive System to Operate Computers
Scientists developed a new revolutionary system to help individuals with disabilities to control wheelchairs, computers and other devices simply by using their tongue.
Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology say that a new technology called Tongue Drive system will be helpful to individuals with serious disabilities, such as those with severe spinal cord injuries and will allow them to lead more active and independent lives.
Individuals using a tongue-based system should only be able to move their tongue, which is especially important if a person has paralyzed limbs. A tiny magnet, only a size of a grain of rice, is attached to an individual's tongue using implantation, piercing or adhesive. This technology allows a disabled person to use tongue when moving a computer mouse or a powered wheelchair.
Scientists chose the tongue to control the system because unlike the feet and the hands, which are connected by brain through spinal cord, the tongue and the brain has a direct connection through cranial nerve. In case when a person has a severe spinal cord injure or other damage, the tongue will remain mobile to activate the system. "Tongue movements are also fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration or effort." said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The motions of the magnet attached to the tongue are spotted by a number of magnetic field sensors installed on a headset worn outside or an orthodontic brace inside the mouth. The signals coming from the sensors are wirelessly sent to a portable computer that placed on a wheelchair or attached to an individual's clothing.
The Tongue system is developed to recognize a wide array of tongue movements and to apply specific movements to certain commands, taking into account user's oral anatomy, abilities and lifestyle."The ability to train our system with as many commands as an individual can comfortably remember is a significant advantage over the common sip-n-puff device that acts as a simple switch controlled by sucking or blowing through a straw," said Ghovanloo.
The Tongue Drive system is touch-free, wireless and non-invasive technology that needs no surgery for its operation.
During the trials of the system, six able-bodied participants were trained to use tongue commands to control the computer mouse. The individuals repeated several motions left, right, up and down, single- and double-click to perform computer mouse tasks.
The results of the trials showed 100 percent of commands were accurate with the response time less than one second, which equals to an information transfer rate of approximately 150 bits per minute.
Scientists also plan to test the ability of the system to operate by people with severe disabilities. The next step of the research is to develop software to connect the Tongue Drive system to great number of devices such as text generators, speech synthesizers and readers. Also the researchers plan to upgrade the system by introducing the standby mode to allow the individual to eat, sleep or talk, while prolonging the battery life.
Source: National Science Foundation
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- 0 votes
//23 Mar 17, 2010 12:30 AM | posted by:
naveen - this is very useful but how it wil reach the people did u gave any ad about this
- 1 votes
//22 Mar 03, 2010 12:41 AM | posted by: sai - it is superb invention give me more details..........
- 2 votes
//21 Feb 23, 2010 07:56 AM | posted by: ankur - nice tech .pls forward more info at
ascordite@gmail.com - 0 votes
//20 Feb 13, 2010 07:51 AM | posted by: abinaya - this is very innovative and i am gonna give a seminar in my college... but i just want to know the details of the chip which is attached on the tongue and i want the details about disadvantages of this technology.............
- 1 votes
//19 Feb 10, 2010 04:42 AM | posted by: deepti - hey its very interesting dude!!! send me more detail abt ur project at sdeepti1291@yahoo.in!!! all d best:0)
- 2 votes
//18 Feb 06, 2010 11:43 AM | posted by: sowmya shastry - it is interesting..i wud like to know more..plz send me technical details to id: sdshastry@gmail.com
- 0 votes
//17 Feb 04, 2010 06:18 AM | posted by: santosh - this is v cool n i m gonna give a seminar on this in ma college which makes many others to get to know bout this tech. i kindly request u to send more technical details to me on www.santoshsidd41@gmail.com
- 0 votes
//16 Feb 01, 2010 07:17 AM | posted by: srikanth - I would like more detailed information about this technology
- 2 votes
//15 Jan 20, 2010 02:42 AM | posted by: rachana - interesting technology,plz give more info.
- 0 votes
//14 Jan 19, 2010 07:55 PM | posted by: Judith - Hey there,
does anybody know where can I find more information about this topic?
I tried getting to the official webpage.. "national science foundation"
greetings from ecuador
:) - 1 votes
//13 Jan 15, 2010 08:00 AM | posted by: Sunil Desai - Yes it is a nice invention. I like to read more details Thank you.
- 3 votes
//12 Jan 13, 2010 02:04 AM | posted by: dipannita - its is a boon to the disable persons and will trigger them with self-confidence that they are no longer a burden .
- 2 votes
//11 Dec 06, 2009 10:20 PM | posted by: Baba - Good add more deep knowledge related that topic
- 2 votes
//10 Nov 20, 2009 02:07 AM | posted by: vaishakh - good topic...Iwant to take seminar about this ..please give me details..
- 2 votes
//9 Oct 20, 2009 09:53 AM | posted by: MONISHA - Its really nice to see persons with disabilities working as like the others. But if you are giving some more informations on this means we all can able to understand more about this interesting technology. Thank you for giving this type of precious contributions.
- 1 votes
//8 Oct 15, 2009 09:25 PM | posted by: SREEJITH .P - IT IS SUPERB INVENTION GIVE MORE DETAILS
- 3 votes
//7 Oct 07, 2009 11:10 PM | posted by: Rakesh - plz do provide more info along with pictorial info in t./..
- 2 votes
//6 Sep 15, 2009 06:59 AM | posted by: archana - tis is too gud.... need sum more info...
- 2 votes
//5 Sep 04, 2009 05:07 AM | posted by: Asha.MP - it is interesting topic..... add more information
- 0 votes
//4 Jul 29, 2009 07:26 AM | posted by: sanju - extremely interesting.....
- 1 votes
//3 Jul 11, 2009 04:22 AM | posted by: Aaro - Its really nice. Its quite a helpful innovation. Plz put more informations
- 2 votes
//2 Mar 28, 2009 11:12 PM | posted by: narmatha - i would like to know more about its working and construction
- 1 votes
//1 Mar 20, 2009 05:53 AM | posted by: Ankit Pandey - Try to add more details.Thank you.
