Gadget helps disabled children design 3D objects with their eyes

A college for disabled children is using pioneering new technology which allows students to design complex objects using only their eyes and then see them brought to life on a 3D printer.

SHIVA (Sculpture for Health-care: Interaction and Virtual Art in 3D) is a 3D design and printing project to bring new methods of expression to a group which has previously been limited by their disabilities.

Started in 2010, SHIVA was designed by a group including Mark Moseley, an assistive technologist at the Victoria Education Centre where it is now in use, and Dr Leigh McLoughlin and Professor Alexander Pasko at the National Centre for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University in the UK.

Some disabilities can make interacting with a touchscreen interface a challenge due to varying levels of dexterity and control. The team needed to create an interface that was highly customisable for a variety of disabilities.

The solution was a new interface that can be used with eye-tracking hardware so that a person can select menu options just by focusing their eyes on it.

In this way a user is able to build an object using the program by selecting a number of pre-defined objects and placing them onto an upright pole. These objects can be modified and rotated to create complex shapes. The virtual pole can then be removed from the model before printing.

Professor Pasko thinks that it helps to 'give children the tools for creativity' because they 'have great imaginations but almost no tools to express themselves'.

'A piece of software which can help someone create something independently, or make them proud of what they have created is going to build self-esteem, that's going to make them feel better and have fun,' he said.

'Suddenly the entire school realised 'wow, it's a different world now'.'

To date, around fifteen pupils with varying levels of disability have used the software and many models have already been produced.

The creators now hope that new funding can be found so that the software can be further developed.

^{Some of the models produced by children}