Kenneth Funes won the first prize at the 1st edition of "Arkathon Hacking Health Valais 2015"

Kenneth Funes, Research Assistant in the Perception and Activity Understanding group of Idiap, developed a Virtual Mouse software.

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Relying on his research work (gaze tracking from cheap RGB.D sensors, see www.idiap.ch/project/g3e), Kenneth Funes -together with Carlos Becker (EPFL), designed a Virtual Mouse combining accurate head pose tracking with gaze gestures. The Virtual Mouse can be used as input modality by patients suffering from heavy disabilities limiting their mobility. The challenge was proposed by Pierre-Alain Comte from the Clinique romande de réadaptation (Suva). K. Funes is currently ending his PhD. His aim is to create a startup company providing gaze tracking softwares for different Human-Computer or Human-Human interaction analysis applications.

The event: the Hacking Health Valais Arkathon wishes to create an environment conducive to the emergence of digital health projects by inviting health professionals and new technologies experts to work together. Held for the first time in Sierre from 5 to 7 June 2015, this event is meant for healthcare professionals which have challenges needed to be solved by computer technology, as well as software developers willing to make their skills available to practical health projects.