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| Source: imec. The EOG glasses. |
A new wireless eye-tracking technology based on electro-oculography (EOG), an ophthalmology technique used to examine eyes and record eye movement, has been integrated into a standard pair of eyeglasses, and can improve augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) experiences.
The EOG technology uses five dry-contact electrodes mounted on a standard pair of eyeglasses. The electrodes detect the eye-movement, while the ergonomic design gives the wearer the comfortable familiarity of every-day glass frames. It is less expensive and less bulky compared to state-of-the-art AR/VR headsets with eye-tracking capability.
Moreover, imec’s approach can achieve a sampling rate of 256 samples per second, more than twice as fast as current camera-based solutions for detecting eye position. Based on Bluetooth wireless technology, it is more energy efficient, requiring only one battery in a small box behind the wearer’s ear. Another small box includes the electronics.
EOG technology can be used in AR/VR applications to navigate interfaces and menus just through eye gestures, eliminating the need for hand controllers. An advanced algorithm translates the eye movement signals into virtual commands: lateral eye movements can for example be used to swipe and turn, while blinking will trigger a move forward.
Eye movement analysis has been increasingly used in studies on neurological disorders, resulting in scientific evidence that eye movements are affected by neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease, even at an early stage. With this in mind, imec aims to employ its technology for clinical research on the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases and monitoring disease progression.
“The EOG glasses represent just one of many wearable devices that have come from imec research,” said Alessio Meroni, Project Leader at imec in Holst Centre, the Netherlands. “Our constant mission is to leverage our semiconductor technology expertise to deliver innovative devices that can be worn as easily as the eyeglasses announced today. With our collaborative R&D model, we accomplish outstanding results in AR/VR, innovative healthcare and lifestyle technologies. We invite companies in the medical field to join our efforts to turn this technology into a valuable diagnostic tool.”
The compact, ergonomic design of the EOG glasses was accomplished in partnership with GBO, an industrial design company based in Antwerp, Belgium. Datwyler Group, based in Altdorf, Switzerland, partnered with imec to develop the dry polymer electrodes for the glasses.
EOG technology can be used in AR/VR applications to navigate interfaces and menus just through eye gestures, eliminating the need for hand controllers. An advanced algorithm translates the eye movement signals into virtual commands: lateral eye movements can for example be used to swipe and turn, while blinking will trigger a move forward.
Eye movement analysis has been increasingly used in studies on neurological disorders, resulting in scientific evidence that eye movements are affected by neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease, even at an early stage. With this in mind, imec aims to employ its technology for clinical research on the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases and monitoring disease progression.
“The EOG glasses represent just one of many wearable devices that have come from imec research,” said Alessio Meroni, Project Leader at imec in Holst Centre, the Netherlands. “Our constant mission is to leverage our semiconductor technology expertise to deliver innovative devices that can be worn as easily as the eyeglasses announced today. With our collaborative R&D model, we accomplish outstanding results in AR/VR, innovative healthcare and lifestyle technologies. We invite companies in the medical field to join our efforts to turn this technology into a valuable diagnostic tool.”
The compact, ergonomic design of the EOG glasses was accomplished in partnership with GBO, an industrial design company based in Antwerp, Belgium. Datwyler Group, based in Altdorf, Switzerland, partnered with imec to develop the dry polymer electrodes for the glasses.
Another novel solution is an organ-on-chip platform for pharmacological studies with unprecedented signal quality. The organisation believes that drug development could become more efficient as a result.
Imec’s solution packs 16,384 electrodes, distributed over 16 wells, and offers multiparametric analysis. Each of the 1,024 electrodes in a well can detect intracellular action potentials, aside from the traditional extracellular signals. Further, imec’s chip is patterned with microstructures to allow for structured cell growth mimicking a specific organ.
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| Source: imec. The organ-on-a-chip platform. |
The solution fuses imec’s high-density multi-electrode array (MEA)-chip with a container called a well plate, developed in collaboration with Micronit Microtechnologies, in which cells can be cultured. This provides an environment that mimics human physiology and allows multiple tests to be performed in parallel.
Imec’s solution packs 16,384 electrodes, distributed over 16 wells, and offers multiparametric analysis. Each of the 1,024 electrodes in a well can detect intracellular action potentials, aside from the traditional extracellular signals. Further, imec’s chip is patterned with microstructures to allow for structured cell growth mimicking a specific organ.
“By using grooves, heart cells can for example grow into a more heart-like tissue. In this way, we fabricate miniature hearts-on-a-chip, making it possible to test the effect of drugs in a more biologically relevant context. Imec’s organ-on-chip platform is the first system that enables on-chip multi-well assays, which means that you can perform different experiments or – in other words – analyse different compounds, in parallel on a single chip,” explained Veerle Reumers, Project Leader at imec.
“This is a considerable increase in throughput compared to current single-well MEAs and we aim to further increase the throughput by adding more wells in a system.”
Imec’s MEA chip was developed in collaboration with Micronit Microtechnologies in the InForMed project, funded by the ECSEL joint undertaking (ECSEL2014-2-662155).
Imec’s MEA chip was developed in collaboration with Micronit Microtechnologies in the InForMed project, funded by the ECSEL joint undertaking (ECSEL2014-2-662155).
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