Look robot – student's device could ease lives of thousands of disabled people

However, a Yorkshire university student has turned the idea into a reality with a device which academics hope could transform the lives of thousands of disabled people.

Suraj Verma, a masters student at Bradford University, has designed a robot which is controlled by eye movement.

A tracking device is worn on the face which directs the machine to travel in whatever direction the controller is looking toward.

Now university researchers are hoping to turn the invention into a series of assisted living products for people who are paralysed.

They aim to develop a wheelchair which travels in the direction someone is looking and a device which could allow people to turn on their lights, TV or electrical appliances simply by looking at icons on a computer screen.

Lecturer Dr Prashant Pillai, who has overseen the research, said: "At the moment we have a prototype. When you look to the left or right the machine travels to the left or right.

"The advanced eye-tracking technology used in this project has several practical future applications in the research area of assisted living, especially for the disabled.

"Suraj created the robot for his masters degree but we are now looking to see if it could be extended to control an electric wheelchair by just looking in the direction in which you want it to go.

"We are also looking to create a device which would allow people to control all their household appliances simply by looking at them.

"Ideally we would create a screen where people could look at certain icons – for instance for their lights and then there would be icons to look at for turning them on and off. This could make a big difference for people who are paralysed as they could control the device without any movement.

"This technology is already being used to allow people to control the movement of a mouse on a computer screen but we hope to be able to give it a physical use in the real world."

The Bradford University robot project has been called Intelligent Recognition for Interactive Systems (IRIS). Academics believe the technology could also be used in market research by measuring the amount of attention people give to advertising in posters, magazines, websites or on large roadside billboards.