Eye-Tracker Texting

[Anchor Lead]

A patient diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and suffering paralysis of his entire body, has a new way to speak with his family. For the first time in 4 years, he is able to communicate; he uses a new technology that follows the movements of his eyes in order to write text messages. Let’s find out more.

[Pkg]

A woman receives a text message from her husband on her way home from work. It's a short message, and a whiny one at that, but the wife is still amazed.

[Soundbite] Sin Mi-gyeong(Wife) : "It's the first text message from my husband in 4 years. I'm so amazed."

What makes the text message so special is that its sender, husband Kim Jae-jin, is battling Lou Gehrig's disease. Kim was once a 40-something breadwinner, with a happy family and little to envy in life. But 4 years ago, his muscles began to stiffen and he eventually could not move or talk at all. All he could do was blink his eyes while looking at a letter board with the help of others. But thanks to an eye-tracking messenger system supplied by a startup firm, he is now able to communicate on his own. When he looks at a particular letter for long enough, it is typed onto the screen, just like using a keyboard. The system also enables the use of smartphone messaging.

[Soundbite] Chae Yong-wuk(CEO, Looxid Labs) : "The use of eye-tracking and brainwave technologies enables accurate identification of the person's gaze and intended emotions."

Kim is finally able to send text messages to his wife filled with the heartfelt gratitude which he was unable to express for a very long time.