Tongue-Trackpad: An Interactive Intraoral Wearable

Discreet tongue tracking devices could enable new approaches in human-computer interactions and provide a means for quantification of tongue movements, potentially advancing diagnostic, and rehabilitation methods. We have developed the Tongue-Trackpad, a multifunctional interactive intraoral device that detects tongue contact using capacitive sensing. We conducted a study centered on human-computer interaction, where we assessed 10 unimpaired individuals’ performance with cursor control. After 86 minutes of non-continuous practice, subjects exhibited an 86% increase in accuracy and speed of cursor control, alongside a 40% error reduction in their movement paths, indicating a trend towards straighter paths. We also identified an on-screen keyboard layout optimized for tongue-typing, with subjects achieving 53% of the character input rate observed with a standard laptop touchpad. Additionally, we conducted a study to measure tongue movement in 32 unimpaired subjects during self-directed exploration, with 16 of them receiving visual feedback. Our findings showed that visual feedback increased the consistency of position distributions by 51%, broadened the coverage area by 22%, and achieved a 51% more uniform distribution. This analysis enabled us to establish a statistical model representing unimpaired tongue capability. We utilized this model as a reference and identified motor deficits and pathology-specific signatures in 9 individuals with motor speech disorders. These results lay the groundwork for future research on utilizing the tongue's capabilities for human computer-interaction and the development of new diagnostic and rehabilitation techniques.