Integration Session

Presentations from…

• POLITO• ITU and UPNA

1. Joining the Association

• Institutional members– Yes (DART, POLITO, TOBII, UTA, ITU)– Perhaps (ACE, UPNA)

• Individual members– 20-30 (DART, POLITO, TOBII, UPNA, UTA, ITU)

2. Exchange of personnel

Past:• Short visits (numerous)• Longer stays (twice from UPNA to ITU, also DMU to UTA)• Re-employment (e.g. from ACE to Tobii)• Exchanging Erasmus students (ITU and UPNA, ITU and UTA)Planned:• Short visits (numerous)

3. Shared infrastructure

• Eye trackers (ACE, POLITO, TOBII, UPNA, UTA, ITU)• The lab (UPNA, UTA)• Shared knowledge of using hardware and software (in relation

to user needs) (ACE, DART)

4. Joint research activities (past)

• Joint research papers– ITU, SU, UzL, UPNA– DMU, UTA– ACE, ITU, DMU, UTA– etc.

• Co-operation in organizing experiments with special needs users (ACE, DART, POLITO)

• Collaboration in writing COGAIN reports

4. Joint research activities (planned)

• Joint research papers– DMU, UTA– LBORO, POLITO, UTA

• Joint research on specific topics (environmental control, low cost eye trackers, etc.)

• Collaboration in writing COGAIN reports

5. Joint training activities

• Co-advising of PhD students– DMU and UTA– ITU and UPNA

• Joint courses• Joint tutorials• Planned: contribute to on-line training material (COGAIN

website or preferably wikipedia) (POLITO)• CTU with 10 special needs professionals to visit ACE for

training in the New Year

6. Changes of research orientation of individual partners

• New research ideas• More focused research (off-the-shelf eye tracking) (UPNA)• COGAIN funding and the availability of the eye tracker loans have enabled

(to sustain) related research (ITU, POLITO, UTA)• Allowed to start related research and get in touch with related

organizations (hospitals, behavioral psychologists etc.) (POLITO, UTA)• Has provided the possibility to dedicate time and get knowledge about eye

gaze technology. Us being in the COGAIN project has given many users the possibility to try eye gaze and to become regular users. We have been able to spread information and to influence opinions and funding on use of eye gaze in Sweden. (DART)

7. What should COGAIN (project and association) focus on in the future?

• Low-cost (hardware) eye trackers (UPNA)• Put some efforts into research to find new techniques/components for eye control, if

possible better, more tolerant and flexible, lower cost and less power consuming. Just imagine if we could have a unit integrated in a pair of glasses with small external speakers. (TOBII)

• Equipment sharing, exchange and loans could be a very useful function. Even if you don't exchange the equipment, having some partners willing to host a student for doing some experiments on different trackers would be useful. (POLITO)

• Users and clinical knowledge should play an important part (DART, UTA)• Spread the information about eye control, that it exists, that it works and does not cost

that much. That it is so much faster than many other communication methods (for example like scanning). It's here and now! (TOBII)

• Research other ways of interacting with the software to speed up communication. Also for persons using symbol communication. (TOBII)

8. What should COGAIN (project and association) not focus on in the future?

• Do not copy existing technique or existing features. That does not bring us anywhere. (TOBII)