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Good practice Imported

Look to Speak — Google's Free Eye-Gaze Communication App for Non-Verbal Users

United States of America · Mountain View · See the United States of America profile · See the Mountain View profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 68% 56/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Google's free Android app lets people with speech or motor impairments communicate by glancing left, right or up to select phrases from a customisable list, using only the phone's front camera as a no-cost alternative to eye-tracking hardware that starts around $150.

18.5 million
Americans with a speech, voice or language impairment
150 USD
Starting price of dedicated eye-tracking devices (e.g. Tobii 4C)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Google (Experiments with Google / Start with One)
Period
2020–present
Keywords
assistive technology, AAC, accessibility, big tech

Context

Around 18.5 million Americans live with a speech, voice or language impairment, and dedicated eye-tracking communication devices start at roughly $150 and are not always portable.

Activities

Google's free Look to Speak app, released on Android in December 2020, uses the phone's front camera to track eye movement so users can glance left, right or up to select phrases from a customisable list, spoken aloud by the phone.

Results

All gaze processing happens on-device and phrase data never leaves the phone; Google has not published independent usage or outcome data for the app.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
speech and language therapist (Richard Cave), small group of prospective users (co-design)

Conditions for success

  • on-device processing for privacy
  • Android 9.0+ device with front-facing camera

Common failure modes

  • no independent usage or outcome data published

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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