Eagle Eyes

 I wanted to share this post here.  It is from a couple weeks ago when Junior and I took the Eagle Eyes training.  He is loving using Eagle Eyes and it is so exciting to see him able to do so by himself.  I wanted share here so others with children who might benefit would be aware of the technology. 
After copying this post here from our regular blog I realized the videos did not copy.  So if you would like to see the technology in action here are 2 posts that each have videos of him using Eagle Eyes.
Here and Here

This week Junior and I were able to learn about and experience some truly amazing technology.  Something which has the potential to open a whole new world for Junior.  A system that uses eye motion as a replacement for the mouse on your computer.  You can click HERE to visit their website and learn more.

We were introduced to Eagle Eyes back when Junior was very small.  At the time it was fairly new and we would have needed to go to their facility to do the training and let Junior try it out. With his health this was just not an option for him. 
  As much as we love his ipad and the ability to communicate that it has given him I have always wanted him to have a way to feel more independence in  how he accessed technology.  He is a teen and gets frustrated at times because he wants to do things himself but in his world that's just not an option with most things.

Our local school district agreed to bring Eagle Eyes out for a training and to see if it would work for Junior.  The last two days we spent learning to use the system and then trying it out.  The Eagle Eyes trainer did a fabulous job teaching us about the system and how it works.  Probes are placed on the face which track the motion of the eye and transfer that to cursor motion.
I tried it out first and wow what an experience, I would have flunked if it was a test.  Trying to use my eyes to move the cursor and not move my head was not an easy task.  Junior on the other hand has always had limited body movement and depended on his eyes for everything.
Something like moving the cursor completely across the screen had been close to impossible for me but he did it without a problem. 

 There will be a learning curve as he learns to use the system and control the cursor and it will take time for him to move from the simpler to more advanced activities.  But watching him use the system for the first time and seeing the smiles and excitement when he realized he was in control and making things happen on the screen all by himself was nothing short of spectacular. 
 Junior all hooked up to the Eagle Eyes system


Learning to move the cursor with his eyes. 

A a video of him learning to move the cursor with his eyes.  He had to move the cursor to the target to get a music video to play.

Another short video this time he is shooting aliens.  We discovered he has a huge peripheral vision field.  So though he looks like he isn't even looking at the computer screen he was seeing it just fine(so neat to have the probes attached to him and get such a great picture of how he "sees").  This explains so much about his vision.  Often he will appear to not be looking at the tv yet is laughing and carrying on as if he is watching it.  We have always assumed his response was because he had seen the shows often and was just listening but now we know he can actually see from that angle and in fact seems to prefer seeing from that angle.

Our training team minus his teacher who had left before the pic.  Thank you to Eagle Eyes for an awesome training.  We can't wait to see the impact this technology will have on Junior.