Technology sometimes makes our life easier, and sometimes it makes it more complicated. For people with disabilities, it can be a source of frustrations, since it may expose their deficiencies. However, used in a sensitive way, technology can be a key tool to alleviate their difficulties to carry out certain activities.

In the case of a physical paralysis, the brain works but the body does not respond. How can a bedridden graffiti artist suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a motor neurone disease, continue to do his work when he cannot move his limbs? Like in the real story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, that Julian Schnabel filmed in 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly', the eyes can be the vehicle of expression and liberation of those who are trapped in their body.

In the intersection of art, open source and guerrilla, a group of hackers and artists decided to empower a legendary LA graffiti artist, Tony Quan, aka Tempt One, to continue to do his work using his eyes. EyeWriter is the name of the open source project created by members of different collectives: Free Art and Technology (FAT), OpenFrameworks, Graffiti Research Lab, and The Ebeling Group.

EyeWriter has different components. First, the glasses where the hardware that tracks the eye movements is mounted, built with a hacked eye camera and near-infrared LEDs to illuminate the eye and make the pupil more distinguishable and easier to track. Second, the software that captures the pupil movements and maps them to positions on a plane. And third, the software that specifically draws, manipulates and styles objects in a time-based interface that responds to eye commands. 

The EyeWriter's site provides instructions to build the hardware for about $50, and it also offers the dowload of the software for those who are interested in this initiative.

Thanks to EyeWriter and the inventive of this collective, Tempt One has already projected his graffities in Vienna and Tokyo. His intention is bring awareness about his illness, to promote health reform in the United States and to help others in his situation. 

http://eyewriter.org