August 1997 Hearings on Assistive Technology

Committee on Science
Technology Subcommittee
United States House of Representatives

Assistive Technologies Hearing
"Meeting the Needs of People with Disabilities
Through Federal Technology Transfer

July 15, 1997
2:00 4:00PM

Eyegaze -
An Assistive Technology,
A Multiple Use Technology, and
an Example of Technology Transfer

Joseph A. Lahoud, President
LC Technologies, Inc.
Fairfax, Virginia

I appreciate the opportunity to appear here today to discuss the Eyegaze technology, which is a working model of a collaborative arrangement between a small company and the federal laboratory system.

LC Technologies is a small company in Fairfax, Virginia specializing in the development and commercialization of a unique technology involving the automatic tracking of the movement of the human eye, which we call Eyegaze. By combining a video camera with a computer, the location of a person's gazepoint on a computer screen can be accurately determined, As a fundamental human-computer or man-machine interaction technology, there are many applications of Eyegaze that have both short-range and long-range commercial potential. One of the most important applications, and one which is available on the market today, is a computer/communication system for people with physical disabilities who cannot use traditional keyboards or other computer input devices that require hand and finger movement. With Eyegaze, these people can now be totally productive on a computer system by merely moving their eyes.

There is a long and complex history associated with the development of automatic eye tracking, going back more than thirty years. The initial pioneering work was actually sponsored by the Department of Defense. In the early 1960's, the Air Force was interested in providing alternate means for pilots to interface with their complex equipment. There were some early successes in the laboratory, but a variety of technological obstacles prevented the transfer of automatic eye tracking to the real world.

Building on the work done by the Air Force and by others, and using only our own resources, LC Technologies, starting in the late 1980's, made some important technological breakthroughs. These breakthroughs enabled us to develop and begin marketing the Eyegaze Computer~Communication System for people with disabilities. To date we have delivered more than one hundred of these devices across the country and overseas.

LC Technologies' goals are to continue the development of the Eyegaze technology, to improve and enhance it for its many mature applications, but to make certain at all times that the needs of the community of disabled people are met with the best products at the most economical prices. It is critically important that mitre Eyegaze products be more lightweight, more miniaturized and portable, and more versatile than they are now, and that they get reduced to reasonable price levels.

The principal strategy that LC Technologies is employing at the present time to acquire the resources we need to continue our Eyegaze development, is partnering with other organizations. Initiatives and resources of the Federal Government represent some of the opportunities we have to obtain critical minding and technology expertise. With regard to the use of Eyegaze as an assistive technology for people with disabilities, initiatives of the Federal Government are essentially the only opportunities we have to mind our research and development.

The Small Business Innovation Research Program, the Small Business Technology Transfer Research Program, and a wide variety of programs involving collaborative arrangements between small companies and Federal Government Research Laboratories, are examples of opportunities for LC Technologies. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the minds available through the above programs address the R&D needs of the community of people with disabilities.

A very important partnering arrangement we have formed during the past two years is with the University of Delaware's Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC). As one of several RERC's supported by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research), and the one designated for Augmentative and Alternative Communication research, we have been receiving valuable assistance and guidance on matters related to assistive technology, specifically our Eyegaze technology, and on the coordination of Eyegaze commercialization activities with the needs of consumers inner marketplace.

It is an extremely unique situation and one that is immensely beneficial to persons with disabilities, for our company to have the opportunity to form a partnership with the RFRC at the University of Delaware. This partnership is particularly effective and has enormous long-range potential, because it is an on-going working relationship, rather than a situation where results are handed off after the work is done. We believe the LC Technologies/University of Delaware RERC partnership is just one of many excellent examples of industry/university/government partnerships that demonstrate how maximum returns can be achieved with minimum resources, for the benefit of people with disabilities.

We have heard elsewhere here today that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has a major commitment to explore ways to expand the use of its space-related research results to

other applications. This commitment includes forming collaborative arrangements with the private sector, with a particular interest in the assistive technology industry. LC Technologies recently entered into a Technology Cooperation Agreement with the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which will provide us with some key optical, electronic and manufacturing capabilities necessary for the design and fabrication of miniaturized, versatile and low-cost Eyegaze devices.

The entire Federal R&D establishment has a major commitment to a long-range program designed to predict the onset of fatigue, drowsiness and lack of attention in drivers, pilots, air traffic controllers and others involved in critical activities where there is a major concern about safety and human error. The FAA, as a strong leader in this program, is particularly interested in the Eyegaze technology and its potential to play a major role in future fatigue prediction systems.

LC Technologies received a Small Business Innovative Research contract from the Naval Research Laboratory to devise a solution to an ambient light problem that currently constrains automatic eyetracking Systems. We demonstrated a workable solution to this problem under our Phase I contract, and we are looking forward to a continuation of this effort.

At this point it is important for me to repeat and to emphasize my earlier words about LC Technologies' commitment, which is to make certain at all times that the needs of the community of disabled people are met with the best products at the most economical prices. All of our collaborative efforts with others, regardless of the specific applications being explored are designed, first and foremost to make the Eyegaze technology more available and more useable for people with disabilities.

As a representative of the emerging assistive technology industry in the United States, I strongly encourage a continuation of the federal government's commitment to devote as many federal research laboratory resources as possible to collaborative efforts with companies such as mine.

Again, I appreciate the opportunity to speak here today, I applaud the work of this Subcommittee, and I look forward to working with you in the future.

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