Wearable EOG goggles: Seamless sensing and context-awareness in everyday environments

Abstract

In this article we introduce the analysis of eye motion as a new input modality for activity recognition, context-awareness and mobile HCI applications. We describe a novel embedded eye tracker that, in contrast to common systems using video cameras, relies on Electrooculography (EOG). This self-contained wearable device consists of goggles with dry electrodes integrated into the frame and a small pocket-worn component with a DSP for real-time EOG signal processing. It can store data locally for long-term recordings or stream processed EOG signals to a remote device over Bluetooth. We show how challenges associated with wearability, eye motion analysis and signal artefacts caused by physical activity can be addressed with a combination of a special mechanical design, optimised algorithms for eye movement detection and adaptive signal processing. In two case studies, we demonstrate that EOG is a suitable measurement technique for the recognition of reading activity and eye-based human-computer interaction. Eventually, wearable EOG goggles may pave the way for seamless eye movement analysis in everyday environments and new forms of context-awareness not possible today. © 2009 IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.