Locked in Syndrome

Accessibility & Inclusion General
Dommy OP
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Hi all,
I have a friend who has 'locked in syndrome' for three years. He only has movement of his eyes.
I realised that there are ways Pete can communicate using 'eye gaze' software, but I do believe that the future is Vision Pro as he will not only be able to move towards communicating with others, but it will help him experience a world outside of his hospital bed again in 3d.
Here are the things we need to overcome to help him on his way...

  • Pete wouldn't be able to use the Vision Pro headset by himself, so I would need access in the same way that people in the Apple Store have access when demoing the headset to people.
  • Pete has movement of his eyes, but not his head so there would need to be adjustments.
  • It would also be good to secure the headset more, so that if Pete sneezes it doesn't need resetting.

I can imagine that Apple would be keen on working on these things because not only do people like Pete need an improved experience of life on this planet, but there is a big market of people such as Pete out there.
So if anyone knows how to move forward with any of these things, or who I can get in contact with at Apple HQ, I would be keen to learn.
Thanks.

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Frameworks Engineer OP
Apple

Hi and thank you for the message,

Apple Vision Pro does offer a few Accessibility features for eye tracking. Pointer Control and Dwell Control together enable a lot of functionality in-headset but I agree about all of your points regarding physical device setup and control.
(Link) Use a pointer to navigate your Apple Vision Pro

Please also consider eye tracking features on Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
(Link) Control iPhone with the movement of your eyes

We are always open to specific feedback or suggestions, and I encourage you to file a Feedback Report with some of the things you've mentioned in this post to ensure it's tracked properly in our internal system.
(Link) Send us your feedback
Dommy OP

We bought an iPad money raised via GoFundMe; We thought that experimenting with Apple's eye tracking would be useful, Pete had already proved capable of using his eyes via Eye Gaze, but that's a pricey solution and Vision Pro would seem to be the best way for him to have experiences beyond his hospital bed. So as I would imagine that we would need to eventually use an iPad to help Pete use Vision Pro, this was a good start.

However Eye Tracking on the iPad is limited, it's not easy for people with normal sight, so it's beyond frustrating for Pete.

Vision Pro is built for Eye Tracking, however in its current state it isn't quite ready for the job. I'd like to liase with Apple, whomever Apple is and help create something that would allow people such as Pete to enjoy the experience of life again. I'll pop some feedback up as recommended in your reply if this might help find out who those people might be.

https://youtu.be/UF_H7o6p_o4