[vc_row type=”1″ margin_bottom=”20″ css=”.vc_custom_1514005806118{padding-top: 70px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-6 vc_col-md-6 vc_col-xs-12″ css=”.vc_custom_1514005894724{margin-top: 32px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Background” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn”]Spinal injury is the most common cause of quadriplegia, though there are many diseases that can produce the same result \u2013 inability to produce controlled movement in any of your limbs or head. For people in this situation independent control of their wheelchairs is not possible \u2013 the technology just isn\u2019t available. Independent mobility increases quality of life significantly, and its loss is keenly felt by those robbed of it, through accident or disease.<\/p>\n
The scale of the problem is enormous. ALS is responsible for only a tiny fraction of the people in this situation, yet there are five thousand ALS sufferers at any one time in the UK alone, and twenty thousand in the US. Most of them will end up sitting immobile in their wheelchairs, unable to move on their own. Eyedrivomatic could help most of them.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”165″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css_animation=”bounceInUp” css=”.vc_custom_1514005947151{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-6 vc_col-md-6 vc_col-xs-12″ css=”.vc_custom_1514005855735{margin-top: 32px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”The Concept” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/FLQOBXSak64″ align=”center” css_animation=”bounceInUp” css=”.vc_custom_1514005964743{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;}”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn”]As someone living with advanced ALS, the inventor of Eyedrivomatic Patrick Joyce understood well the mobility issues facing people in his position. Like many others, he didn\u2019t actually own either the wheelchair or the eyegaze system that he used . He needed something that would interface with the user\u2019s chair mounted computer, and physically move the joystick. Crucially this would mean that there would be \u00a0no need to make any modifications to existing user hardware, and that it could work with virtually any wheelchair and eyegaze combination.<\/p>\n
The solution Patrick\u00a0came up with is called Eyedrivomatic, and is a two-part system \u2013 a Windows application to interface with an eyegaze system, and a device we call the \u2018electronic hand\u2019, that contains servos to move the wheelchair\u2019s joystick and three relays for switch activation.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section][vc_row margin_top=”32″ margin_bottom=”32″ anchor=”solution” css=”.vc_custom_1514008604147{margin-bottom: 32px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Our Solution” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]The Eyedrivomatic is an inexpensive way for people with motorized wheelchairs and eyegaze equipment to take control of their mobility.\u00a0 No modification of the wheelchair is required, and it is compatible with most wheelchair controllers and eyegaze systems. The system produces smooth, safe movement capable of accurate control even on rear wheel drive chairs. All functions of the wheelchair can be operated with Eyedrivomatic, much as somebody with normal hand movement could.<\/p>\n
The Eyedrivomatic has two basic parts \u2013 the Eyedrivomatic software, which interfaces with the eyegaze system, and the Electronic Hand, a device that fits over the joystick of an electronic wheelchair and takes commands from the software.[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row margin_bottom=”20″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-12″][vc_custom_heading text=”The Hardware” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]The Eyedrivomatic Electronic Hand is a gimbal system that fits over the wheelchair\u2019s normal joystick and can provide approximately 20 degrees of movement in any direction. By using a device that physically moves the joystick, we emulate the only protocol used by every wheelchair\u2026 the human hand.[\/vc_column_text]