AUTHOR=Taheri  Atieh , Weissman  Ziv , Sra Misha 

TITLE=Design and Evaluation of a Hands-Free Video Game Controller for Individuals With Motor Impairments

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Computer Science

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/computer-science/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2021.751455

DOI=10.3389/fcomp.2021.751455

ISSN=2624-9898

ABSTRACT=Over the last few decades, video gaming has evolved at a tremendous rate though game input methods have been slower to change. Game input methods continue to rely on two-handed control of the joystick and D-pad or the keyboard and mouse for simultaneously controlling player movement and camera actions. Bi-manual input poses a significant play impediment to those with severe motor impairments. In this work, we propose and evaluate a hands-free game input control method that uses realtime facial expression recognition. Through our novel input method, our goal is to enable and empower individuals with neurological and neuromuscular diseases, who may lack hand muscle control, to be able to independently play video games. To evaluate the usability and acceptance of our system, we conducted a remote user study with 8 severely motor impaired individuals. Our results indicate high user satisfaction and greater preference for our input system with participants rating the input system as easy to learn. With this work we aim to highlight that facial expression recognition can be a valuable input method.