Software Makes Using Mouse Easier for Motor Deficiencies

posted on May 11 by Admin in the Disability News, Health, Technology category

With the rising dependency on computers and cell phones with access to the internet in today’s society, many people with disabilities use this popular form of communication as a life line to the rest of the world socially and as a research tool for breakthrough treatments on their diseases. However, using the mouse is a cornerstone application to facilitate choosing the available options and to start/stop applications. In order to make your selection on the computer with a mouse, one must hover over the “target” and click to either begin, end, maximize the window, or minimize the window. People with limited mobility in their limbs and seniors with arthritis or other motor deficiencies find using a computer mouse extremely difficult due to the precision needed to make the intended choice.

The University of Washington has a team called the AIM Research Group that has the objective to create effective and interactive technologies that improves people’s access to and interaction with computers and information, particularly for constrained users or users in constraining situations. Working on three basic themes that make up the AIM name:

1. Accessible – create software that maximizes people’s motor and vision capabilities by making commodity devices more accessible and useful
2. Interactive – a prototype driven interactive  design process to invent new interactive technologies
3. Mobile – study and develop mobile user interfaces for people with physical impairments or people with situational impairments while “on the go”

The AIM Research Group created two mouse cursors that make clicking targets easier for people with dexterity impairments. These mouse cursors are simple, free, downloads and require no additional hardware to purchase. Since AIM is a research group, they need feedback on the effectiveness of the software rather than profit.

The first free mouse cursor program is called the Pointing Magnifier, which combines an area cursor with both visual and motor magnification. With a larger circular cursor, the Pointing Magnifier magnifies everything within the circle (even tiny targets can be magnified to be easily seen and clicked) that can be made even larger for those with greater motor deficiencies. Unlike other magnification software for people with visual impairments, the Pointing Magnifier does more than just magnify the size of the screen pixels; it magnifies both the visual and motor space in which to click a target. Once the user hovers over the intended target he/she clicks with a pointing cursor inside the magnified circle. Even though it takes two clicks, it remains easier to use than a conventional mouse. Studies show that using the Pointing Magnifier increases the ability to acquire targets by 23%. When using the Pointing Magnifier, a control panel allows the user to adjust the color, transparency level, magnification factor, and area cursor size, making it customizable to benefit the user’s specific disability. Keyboard shortcuts quickly enable and disable the pointer.

The second program is known as the Angle Mouse. In addition to downloading the windows based software, two videos are available for download: one for instructional purposes and one for academic research on the technology behind the software. The Angle Mouse initially blasts towards a target, the spread of movement for those with motor impairments tends to be narrow, so the Angle Mouse keeps the pointer moving fast. When the cursor nears it’s target, and the user tries to hover over the target, the angles diverge sharply so the Angle Mouse slows the cursor, enlarges the motor space, and makes the target easier to reach. The Angle Mouse has the ability to “learn” the users level of motor disability and the more trouble a user has, the larger the target will be made within the motor space, although the target itself will not visually change. In a study of the Angle Mouse, eight able-bodied subjects and eight motor-impaired subjects were studied while using the software. The Angle Mouse improved motor-impaired pointing and clicking performance by 10% over using a conventional mouse.

“Our cursors make ubiquitous mice, touchpads, and trackballs more effective for people with motor impairments without requiring new, custom hardware,” says Jacob O. Wobbrock, an assistant professor in the Information School that leads the AIM group.

Funding for the Pointing Magnifier is made possible by the National Science Foundation and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The Angle Mouse is funded through Microsoft Research, Intel Research, and the National Science Foundation.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110408163911.htm

http://depts.washington.edu/aimgroup/