Where There is a Need, There is a Way

"At the beginning it was not clear whether he would be able to move his arms, his hands, and play music again."

"It was a shock for me and I realized there is a need for this kind of technology."

"Without doing it digitally this would never be possible to play music in real time."

"It takes away the actual action of strumming a chord."

Zacharias Vamvakousis, creator, "Eyeharp"

Alexandra Kerlidou, 21, who suffers from cerebral palsy, plays the "Eyeharp", a gaze-controlled digital software    Reuters

"I felt strange, I had never imagined such a thing", said Alexandra Kerlidon from her home in Lesbos, Greece, a student whose existence has been compromised by cerebral palsy. "I cried, her mother too" Anastasios Kerlidou said, hearing his daughter first play the Eyeharp. Yes, the Eyeharp. It is part of a program that offers a range of musical instruments whose choice enables those who cannot move their hands or speak, to 'play', through computer-generated software, in obedience to eye movement.

A friend of the Eyeharp's creator -- Zacharias Vamvakousis -- who was a musician, had been involved in a motorcycle accident. They had been scheduled to play a concert together at the time. But his friend was no longer able to do any of the things he had once taken for granted; his limbs unwilling/unable to respond as a result of the accident's severely disabling consequences. So he was inspired by both compassion and his creative genius to come up with an answer to the dilemma.

Himself both a computer scientist and a musician, Vamvakousis created a digital eye-tracking program from a technology already in wide use in gaming, security and medicine; a program geared to monitor eye movement through the performance of commands. As the eye rests on musical notes spaced on a wheel on the screen, the response on average is the playing of three to four notes each second. No fewer than 25 musical instruments can be selected to 'play'.

It takes discipline and concentration to succeed with the program ... since the player must direct eyes from wandering too swiftly over to the following note. Alexandra plays the Eyeharp, gaze-controlled digital software allowing those like her with severe disabilities, to play music. She cannot imagine her life without music.

 

Reuters