Can you imagine yourself interacting with phones, tablets, computers and other devices without hands?
karaloop is an initiative to advance the development of accessible and inclusive wearable hands-free interfaces, so in the future, anyone will be able to interact with any device, from anywhere, without hands, simply by performing movements of the face
The primary goal is to enable ubiquitous human-device interaction to all, regardless of physical abilities, environmental and socioeconomical constrains.
This repository contains a collection of wearable prototypes which measure voluntary movements of the face and translate them into mouse or keyboard commands sent via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to any PC, iOS or Android device.
Each prototype incorporates/explores different contact (C) and contactless (CL) sensing technology to capture facial movements: strain gauges (karaloop P1.0, C), potentiometers and microswitches (karaloop P2.0, C), and magnetomers and optical flow sensors (karaloop P3.0, c and CL).
The karaloop wearables are not finished products. The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) varies across prototypes. While karaloop P1.0 and P2.0 are still in feasibility evaluation and development phases (TRL 3-5), karaloop P3.0 has been preliminary evaluated in operational environments (TRL 7).
karaloop P1.0, P2.0 and P3.0 use the Adafruit Feather nRF52 Bluefruit.
We believe that the open source movement can foster mass technological inclusivity, accessibility and education.
All (i.e. software, firmware, circuit schematics, CAD designs, assembly guides) source and documentation files in this repository are licensed under open source licenses approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Software and firmware are licensed under Apache License, Version 2.0 or GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3), hardware schematics and design files under CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 - Permissive (CERN OHL-P-V2), and contents in README, /src, wiki and assembly guides under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
karaloop P1.0 [CH000014], P2.0 [CH000015] and P3.0 [CH000016] are certified open source hardware by the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA).
karaloop is a registered trademark. Find the karaloop trademark guidelines here.
This repository and everyone participating in it is governed by the karaloop Code of Conduct. By participating, you are expected to uphold this code.
We have the Q&A message board where karaloopers will do their best to address any questions that you may have:
Let's discuss your ideas in the Ideas message board. Please do not open an issue on GitHub until you and the maintainers come up with a roadmap.
Tell us what do you want to improve in the Improvements message board. Please do not open an issue on GitHub until you and the maintainers come up with a roadmap.
Leave your messages at the General message board:
The karaloop initiative was inspired by Ferran Galán's previous work ChinMotion.
The prototype development work of karaloop P1.0, P2.0 and P3.0 was partially sponsored by Fondation Privée des HUG and Wyss Center through grants/support awarded to Ferran Galán at University of Geneva.
Quentin Praz, Ahmad Jaafar, Spiros Schoinas and Philippe Passeraub from HEPIA, and Ferran Galán from University of Geneva contributed to the conception and development of karaloop P1.0, P2.0 and P3.0.
For any other inquiries beyond the topics covered in karaloop Discussions, please reach to us at karaloop@protonmail.com.
