EyeCommander

The focus on accessibility of developers as of late is worth celebrating: newer mobile phones, computer devices, and even games are now featuring a whole suite of options to assist all types of users. This works to make a certain product or software more accessible to everyone, thus welcoming in a larger user base — it's a win for both the developer, and the end-user.

Eye tracker software has started gaining traction over the last few years, but EyeCommander isn't exactly a solution solely devoted to tracking your eye movements. This assistive software detects your blinking, which allows it to output a keyboard command, or launch a certain app, based on your configurations.

The way the program detects your blinking is quite ingenious: through a set of algorithms, the software automatically picks up your eye movements, making it capable to properly recognize and track your blinking actions. Needless to say, you'll need to have a webcam for the program to work. Upon enabling it, the tool will outline your face and eyes.

You can then proceed right away: the default blinking command is outputting a Space/Enter press, but you can change that anytime in the settings. Only keypresses are supported — so no CTRL+ALT commands or anything of that sort, at least for now.

As for the blink detection, several modes are available. The Hold blink mode is the most accurate, but you can also use the Basic, Speed, or their respective Left/Right variations. Basic is more inaccurate because it triggers immediately upon recognizing a blink, while Speed solely focuses on the...speed of your blinking.

The program can be used alongside Smartbox's Grid offering, which is a suite of assistive programs. This effectively allows the tool to launch one of the Smartbox Grid apps, to further help those having assistive difficulties.

Users can also configure the depth, throttle time, and threshold of the detection algorithm: feel free to experiment with these until you feel comfortable.

EyeCommander is a shrewd solution, capable of helping any user that needs assistance maneuvering their computer in a smoother, more streamlined manner.