Augmentative and Alternative Communication with Eye-gaze Technology and Augmented Reality: Reflections from Engineers, People with Cerebral Palsy and Caregivers

This paper reports on the outcome of a survey in which the perceived satisfaction and workload of a novel augmented reality (AR) device for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) was explored among engineers, people with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and/or their caregivers. The current design of a novel device using AR glasses, Microsoft HoloLens, and an eye-tracking system from Pupil Labs HoloLens Binocular Add-on was explored. The survey was based on QUEST 2.0 and NASA-TLX. The average result for the QUEST 2.0 was 3.52, 3.65, and 3.04 out of 5 for all participants, engineers, and people with cerebral palsy and/or their guardians, respectively. Findings from the NASA-TLX showed that people with cerebral palsy and/or their caregivers perceived a lower workload than the engineers. Therefore, it is believed that, although the current design still has some challenges, it holds the potential as a novel AAC solution for people with cerebral palsy, with complex communication needs.