AT for computer access boils down to an individual unable to use a standard mouse or keyboard to interact and manipulate the computer interface. There can be many reasons for this, an accident, a repetitive stress injury, or an acquired disease to name a few. There are many ways to provide an alternate means of access and in this post we will talk about using your head.

In an earlier blog post I’ve made mention about the differences between the Android operating system and Apple iOS (Android vs. Apple iOS). One difference in the operating systems is that you are able to control the user interface on the Android operating system with a standard computer mouse via USB or Bluetooth. When the mouse is attached a cursor appears and you can click to manipulate programs. By having this USB connectivity we can also plug in other devices like a mouse controlled with head movement.

The equipment being used for this example is an ASUS Transformer tablet with docking keyboard, Tracker Pro head mouse from Madentec, and a jellybean switch. The setup is quite simple in that you connect the tablet and keyboard, which then makes a USB port available to plug in the Tracker Pro. The nice thing about the Tracker Pro is that it does not need additional software to run, the operating system on a computer or Android tablet recognizes it as a mouse. The next step is to plug the jellybean switch (or switch of your choice) into the Tracker Pro switch port. After all the equipment is plugged in you are ready to move the mouse around with your head and clicking is done by pressing the switch.

The use of this setup may not be the most practical setup for a user needing this type of modification, but as mentioned in the Vizio Co-Star article , this is another example of taking a step in the right direction of mobile technology being used with assistive technology.