Control your Computer Mouse with your tongue

To move the mouse to control a wheelchair or a computer, soon may just need an iPhone, a retaining teeth (dental retainer), and tongue pierced.

Breakthrough aims to improve the lives of people experiencing a high level spinal injuries and was asked as a big leap in the Tongue Drive system (control of the tongue), which is being developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The retaining teeth that have been adapted to contain a magnetic field sensors mounted on the four corners. The sensor detects movement serves a small magnet attached to the tongue of the user. The system can interpret seven different tongue motions to direct the motion of a wheelchair or just surf the internet.

Signals from the anchoring teeth are transmitted to the iPhone or iPod which is equipped with software to interpret the commands interpret a given user's tongue, through the position of the magnet. While Apple's latest device attached to the wheelchair using the artificial interface.

Initial tests indicate an increase in the sensitivity of the new system, so it could have opened the possibility to add a command.

The team has recruited 11 people who suffered spinal injuries as a high degree of interpreter testing system. Their tongue pierced and each given a small bump that has a magnet.

"Users have to learn to use the system, move the computer cursor more quickly and with greater accuracy, quick maneuvering through obstacles with fewer number of collisions," said Maysam Ghovanloo, technicians from the Georgia Institute of Technology