Controlling a drone by the tongue – A pilot study on drone based facilitation of social activities and sports for people with complete tetraplegia

Abstract

Tetraplegia is a devastating condition, resulting in severe disability and isolation from social activities and entertainment. Drones may provide a severely paralyzed individual the possibility of participation in drone-sports and thereby in social interaction and further it may give a sense of freely moving. However, individuals with tetraplegia currently lack options for controlling a drone. Researchers at Aalborg University have developed a wireless intraoral tongue computer interface (ITCI) for disabled users. This study investigates the possibility of controlling a drone by the ITCI. One able-bodied experimental participant controlled the drone using a standard keyword, the ITCI while keeping it in the hand, and by mounting the ITCI inside the mouth and using the tongue. The performance of the ITCI was compared with respect to the keyboard. The mean distance from the target and the mean flight time were 36% and 16% greater when using the ITCI inside the mouth with respect to controlling by the keyboard.