The University of Lleida develops a virtual mouse for disabled people

The Headmouse project has been launched as part of the research work undertaken by the Indra-Adecco Foundation Chair of the University of Lleida The mouse reacts to the head and face movements of the physically disabled users The rector of the University of Lleida and the general managers of the Adecco Foundation and Indra thus reaffirm their commitment to social responsibility
Lleida, 17 January 2008. - The University of Lleida has developed a virtual mouse whereby people with physical disabilities shall have access to new technologies. The HeadMouse project has been launched as part of the research work undertaken by the Adecco Foundation-Indra Chair and allows mouse control using a webcam and the face and head movements. The technological development underlying this tool is freely and publicly available on a purposefully setup website. Mr. Jordi Palacn, professor at the University de Lleida and scientific director of the IndraAdecco Foundation Chair, described during the HeadMouse presentation the device operation, which leverages a low-cost camera to capture user actions in front of the screen. People with physical disabilities may control de mouse "drag" functions through head movements, while facial actions become various forms of mouse "click". The system incorporates a large number of innovations that facilitate access to information and communication technologies. Using machine vision algorithms, developed initially for mobile robotics applications, physically disabled users are able, without any training or prior knowledge, to utilize the virtual mouse in an intuitive and natural fashion. Furthermore, once the software is installed, the user does not require any help accessing the configuration or modifying the system parameters. The final result of the project can be installed and run for free on any computer equipped with a Webcam through the access URL http://robotica.udl.cat. This revolutionary application is intended and designed for physically disabled people so they can access a universe of new

technologies and for helping over 1.824.000 people with reduced mobility currently in Spain. In addition, the virtual mouse is by its very nature a global solution, as it may be utilized by any user in the world and has no defined application language - a Spanish / English manual is provided. . Continuity of the Indra - Adecco Foundation Chair at UdL On the occasion of the HeadMouse project presentation, the rector of the University of Lleida -Joan Vias-, Indra's CEO -Josep Maria Vil- and the general manager for the Adecco-Foundation -Francisco Mesonero- have all reaffirmed their commitment to social responsibility practices through the signing of a Collaboration Agreement. Therefore, the research, development and technology transfer -as well as training and awarenessactivities in the field of Information Technology and Communications (TIC in the Spanish original) shall continue. Furthermore, the aim of creating a working environments that enables disabled people to enter the labour market, as defined in the Collaboration Agreement, is materialized in the creation of new features in the project HeadMouse as well as through the incipient creation of a Virtual Coach solution, whose ultimate goal is to create a tool to enhance training and facilitate labour market access to disabled people. 9% of Spain's total population suffers from some sort of disability (3.5 million) 1 million of those affected are of working age and of these 23% are unemployed 3.3% of the total population or 1,824,000 persons do have reduced mobility
(National Statistics Institute -INE- data, 1999) To access the interactive demo of HeadMouse: http://robotica.udl.es/headmouse/videos/index.html
(MPG images with DVD quality)

The University de Lleida is a public institution, which has approximately 8,148 students and 878 faculties. It comprises seven schools and three affiliated centres. The University of Lleida is a member of the Catalonian Quality Assurance Agency for the University System, which independently conducts regular institutional evaluations of careers and university services. Indra is an Information Technology multinational, first ranked in the Spanish market and holding a leading position in Europe and Latin America. It is the second European company by market capitalization in its industry and is ranked among the three top Spanish companies by R & D investment. In 2007, its sales attained 2,165 M 2 while its net profit stood at 148 M 2. Indra has over 23,000 professionals and has clients in over 80 countries.

Adecco Foundation carries out its purpose through Collaboration Agreements with entities and companies, designing and implementing policies on Social Responsibility in the context of Human Resources and developing Reorientation and Integration programs that facilitate access to the labour market to those seriously impaired to do so. The Adecco Foundation team enjoys the support of 350 Adecco offices.

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Spanish Statistics Institute (INE) data, 1999 Interim Results