The EyeWriter is a low-cost

eye tracking Eye tracking is the process of measuring either the point of gaze (where one is looking) or the motion of an eye relative to the head. An eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement. Eye trackers are used in research ...

system originally designed for paralyzed

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

artist Tempt1. The EyeWriter system uses inexpensive cameras and

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

computer vision Computer vision tasks include methods for image sensor, acquiring, Image processing, processing, Image analysis, analyzing, and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical ...

software to track the wearer's eye movements. EyeWriter was conceived by

Mick Ebeling Mick Ebeling (born June 26, 1970) is an American innovator, entrepreneur, author, speaker and philanthropist who focuses on developing technology that benefits humanity. Ebeling is the recipient of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award ...

and developed at Ebeling's home in Venice Beach by artists and engineers from the Free Art & Technology Lab,

Graffiti Research Lab Graffiti Research Lab is an art project founded by Evan Roth and James Powderly and run from Eyebeam OpenLab, a non-profit technology and art center where the two are fellows. The two experiment with LEDs, magnets, and conductive paint to aug ...

and

OpenFrameworks openFrameworks is an open-source toolkit designed for creative coding founded by Zachary Lieberman, Theo Watson and Arturo Castro. OpenFrameworks is written in C++ and built on top of OpenGL. It runs on Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, ...

teams, including

Zachary Lieberman Zachary Lieberman is an American new media artist, designer, computer programmer, and educator. Early life and education Born in 1977, Lieberman holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from Hunter College and both a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Design and Technology ...

Evan Roth Evan Roth (born 1978) is an American artist who applies a hacker philosophy to an art practice that visualizes transient moments in public space, online and in popular culture. Biography Evan Roth received a degree in architecture from Universi ...

James Powderly James Powderly (born 1976 in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is an American artist, designer and engineer whose work has focused on creating tools for graffiti artists and political activists, designing robots and augmented reality platforms, and promoti ...

Theo Watson Theo Watson is a British artist and programmer. His art work includes interactive video, large-scale public projections, computer vision projects, and interactive sound recordings which have featured in museums and galleries across the world i ...

and Chris Sugrue. The project has been recognized with numerous awards including being honored by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' as one of the Top 50 inventions of 2010, the 2010

Prix Ars Electronica The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria ...

, the 2010 FutureEverything Award and featured on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and TED. EyeWriter was featured in 2009 at the CREAM International Festival for Arts & Media in Yokohama. Tempt1 was also featured in 2009 projected on Kyoto City Hall. EyeWriter was part of the Talk to Me exhibit at

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

on display from July 24 until November 7, 2011.

Funding

The first phase of the project was funded by the Ebeling Group resulting in Tempt1 being able to successfully draw for the first time in seven years using only his eyes. Upon completion of phase one, the development team initiated phase two and received almost $18,000 as a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

project, which surpassed its $15,000 goal. It also received funding support from the Ebeling Group and from

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

Software and development

The EyeWriter software consist of eye-tracking software, and a drawing software that allows a user to draw with the movement of their eye. The source code for the EyeWriter software is an open source code with an Artistic/GPL License. The software for both parts has been developed using openframeworks, a cross platform C++ library for creative development. Eyewriter 2.0 led to the development of Livewriter to be used in the 2010 Cinekid festival. In addition to Eyewriter's original parameters, a robot arm was integrated allowing the physical recording of visually created content. PrintBall, a paintball shooting robot, was developed by

Benjamin Gaulon Benjamin Gaulon (born 29 March 1979 in Montereau-Fault-Yonne, Seine-et-Marne, France) is a French artist whose work focuses on planned obsolescence, consumerism and Throw-away society, disposable society. He has previously released work under t ...

in Dublin.

References

{{reflist

External links

Project source code
https://web.archive.org/web/20100722003856/http://www.eyewriter.org/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0077m2v#p007k2vqhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCYwWqaxkNQ
Assistive technology Graffiti in the United States Kickstarter-funded software