Science proves that Facebook and texting don’t make you happy - but Skype does

But Skype internet phone users reported “high levels of happiness and laughter” when seeing friends in cyberspace, according to a report presented at the final day of the British Science Festival at Bradford University.

The research led by Dr Sam Roberts of the University of Chester concluded that although Facebook was good for gossip it would never replace meeting up with friends, in person or over video.

The festival also saw technology which allows disabled people to control electric wheelchairs simply by moving their eyes.

Academics from Bradford University hope the breakthrough could help severely disabled people who up until now have not been able to move independently.

The research, led by Dr Prashant Pillai and involving masters student Suraj Verma, developed a unique eye-controlled robot last year.

Now after months of rewriting the software they have discovered how to apply the same technology to an electric wheelchair.

Dr Pillai said: “We really had to go back to the beginning to make the technology work for electric wheelchairs. We are really excited by how well our prototype is working and have managed to reduce the reaction time from when the eye movement takes place down from a few seconds to just a few milliseconds – which will feel instantaneous for the user. We have also made the headset completely wireless.”

The technology works by the user wearing a tracking device on their face - like a pair of glasses – which has a small camera on it.

By tracking the exact position of the iris the systems allows someone to move the wheelchair simply by looking in the direction they want to go. Academics are also hoping to use the technology with other electrical items, and also at removing the need for a headset by allowing wall mounted cameras in the user’s home to pick up eye movement and wirelessly relay instructions to the technology used. The long term vision is to work towards a fully-assisted home, where a user could just look at their television, lighting or music equipment to switch it on.