Cyclops: Designing an eye-controlled instrument for accessibility and flexible use

The Cyclops is an eye-gaze controlled instrument designed for live performance and improvisation. It is primarily mo- tivated by a need for expressive musical instruments that are more easily accessible to people who rely on eye track- ers for computer access, such as those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). At its current implementation, the Cyclops contains a synthesizer and sequencer, and provides the ability to easily create and automate musical parameters and effects through recording eye-gaze gestures on a two- dimensional canvas. In this paper, we frame our prototype in the context of previous eye-controlled instruments, and we discuss we designed the Cyclops to make gaze-controlled music making as fun, accessible, and seamless as possible despite notable interaction challenges like latency, inaccu- racy, and "Midas Touch."