Welfare-support interface for PC mouse operations using mouth open/close motions and head tilting

This paper suggested a welfare-support interface to operate a personal computer for physical handicapped persons who had an obstacle on the region of upper limb. The user wore a head set device on which angle and distance sensors were equipped. The roll and pitch angles of the head were measured by angle sensor. Distance sensor located in front of the mouth detected the mouth open/close states. The user could confirm the input state by the indicator located near the monitor. In cases where the mouth was closed, mouse cursor on a monitor could be moved according to the direction and magnitude of the tilted head angle. When the mouth was opened for more than two seconds, the click operation mode started. In this mode, the tilting directions of the head were assigned to the click functions such as double click or drag. Moreover, mouth open/close state provided the rapid switching function between the cursor movement state and static one in the cursor movement mode. In test operation, it was confirmed that the mouth operation was available to lighten the physical burden of the operator.