Ear Device Enabling Hands Free Wheelchair Control

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is a well-recognized need for devices capable of sensing and recording data from physiological sources and converting such input into usable control signals. A device of this nature that could generate control signal input without external bodily movement would significantly enhance quality of life issues for many of the physically impaired. The use of power wheelchairs in particular would expand greatly in scope from the development of a feedback control system with this capacity. A device of this nature would enable individuals suffering from conditions such as spinal cord injury, diseases effecting the nervous system and brain, arthritis, stroke, and repetitive motion damage, with the capability to far more effectively use assist devices such as mechanized wheelchairs. Think-A-Move, Ltd., leveraging past success in generating control signals from physiological sensing, proposes the development of an unobtrusive sensor-based control system. This system will be capable of directing a power wheelchair using only movements of the tongue without insertion of any device into the oral cavity. Phase I work will: 1) construct a prototype sensing/control device with these attributes, 2) develop a virtual simulation environment to test the device performance and 3) perform a quantitative analysis of the performance of the device in simulation.