Tongue Drive System | Control Electric Wheelchairs with Your Tongue

For wheelchair users who are quadriplegic or unable to use their arms well enough to control a joystick, a sip and puff system is a way they can control their electric wheelchairs. Sip and puff works by the user sucking (sipping) or blowing (puffing) air into a tube. Using quick or continuous  sips and puffs, they can move their wheelchair forwards, backwards, left, or right. Sip and puff is a proven technology used by many. However we always need to keep innovating and researchers are developing beyond sip and puff. Georgia Tech is developing a tongue controlled system call the Tongue Drive System (TDS). Allowing a wheelchair user to control their movement with their tongue. TDS is also being developed to control other items besides wheelchairs such as computers and televisions.

So how does TDS exactly work? First a small magnet is attached or pierced onto the tongue. Then a dental retainer like device with sensors is placed into the roof of the mouth. This retainer piece is molded to fit the shape of the user’s mouth and is made from a water resistant material. The user then moves the magnet on their tongue to the different sensors to control direction. Originally the Georgia Tech researchers had used a headset with sensors instead of a retainer. The headset though would tend to shift and then have to be repositioned. A molded retainer proved to be more reliable.

When the sensors in the retainer are triggered, a signal is then sent to a iPod or iPhone that is connected to the wheelchair. Software in the iPod or Iphone then interprets this signal and tells the wheelchair where to go. Recently the researchers at Georgia Tech made a device that better connects the iPods/iPhones to electric wheelchairs. Here is how they describe it through their press release:

Ghovanloo and his team have also created a universal interface for the intraoral Tongue Drive System that attaches directly to a standard electric wheelchair. The interface boasts multiple functions: it not only holds the iPod, but also wirelessly receives the sensor data and delivers it to the iPod, connects the iPod to the wheelchair, charges the iPod, and includes a container where the dental retainer can be placed at night for charging.

TDS can also be programmed to have multiple controls and control other devices. Such as a cursor on a computer screen or acting as a remote for a television. I do have questions regarding any potential problems when a person is talking or eating food but the technology does have great potential. Below is a presentation video of TDS. Note that this is an older video when they were still using the headset with sensors. To read more on TDS visit the Georgia Tech website here Georgia Tech Tongue Drive Website.