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User Documentation

Here is a one-page Quick Start guide for Smyle Mouse. 

For more details, please review the Smyle Mouse User Guide here.   It will help you understand how to use the Smyle Mouse head / face mouse control software, how to configure it to your needs and preferences, as well as troubleshoot any issues.

If you will using Smyle Mouse primarily for AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication), please refer to the following guides–

  1. Using Smyle Mouse as a Head Pointer for AAC.
  2. Using Smyle Mouse as an Assistive/Adaptive Switch.

FAQS

What type of disabilities does Smyle Mouse™ Head Mouse help with?

Smyle Mouse provides hands-free computer mouse control via gentle head motions and smiles. This can be very useful for people with disabilities or impairments related to use of hands, arms or fingers. This can include severe disabling conditions such as ALS, Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke, Cerebral Palsy, Neuro-muscular diseases, and others, but also pain/discomfort in hands/arms due to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Arthritis. People looking for ergonomic computer mice can also use Smyle Mouse. What can be easier on your hands than not using them at all?!

How does the Smyle Mouse™ Head Mouse work?

Smyle Mouse head mouse provides hands-free and voice-free mouse control of computing devices. Using the Smyle Mouse, user can have complete mouse control over his/her computing device using simple facial gestures. These facial gestures can include gentle head motion and facial expressions such as smiling. Most interestingly, all these facial gestures are captured via a simple webcam.

Along with movement of the mouse pointer by use of head motion, Smyle Mouse also provides clicking, scrolling and dragging actions, using patent pending gestures. Head mouse control can be activated by the act of smiling. For example, to move the cursor (using head motion), smile as you move your head. Once the cursor starts moving (which is instantaneous), it will keep on moving until you stop smiling and stop moving your head. To click, do a quick smile; that is, smile for a short duration. Having said that, out of the box, Smyle Mouse head mouse emulates traditional head mouses in that it does not require the user to smile to start mouse pointer motion. For more details, watch one of our short demo videos.

Do I need to buy any special hardware for using Smyle Mouse™ head mouse?

Absolutely not! You can use your existing Windows computer set up, as long as it meets our modest requirements. (See above.)

Can I try the Smyle Mouse™ for free?

Absolutely! Just click the “Start Free Trial” button at the top of the page to download a free trial copy our next-gen head mouse and use it for 14 days. No credit card is required for trying out. Just download and install our head mouse software and start using it instantly.

Can I really use the Smyle Mouse™ head mouse outdoors?

Absolutely again! Our advanced image processing algorithms are designed to allow the user to be where they want to be — inside or outside the home or office. Go ahead and try using it in your yard or a park. We bet you will be pleasantly surprised. However, we do not recommend that with other head mouses. 🙂

How does the Smyle Mouse™ license work?

A Smyle Mouse software license authorizes a user to use it on one device. Once a user registers a device using a valid Product / Subscription key, the license is locked to that device and cannot be transferred to another device.  If the user’s device breaks down, we will provide up to three replacement licenses over lifetime (but no more than one a year starting from the date of purchase), at no cost to the user.

Note that starting the release of v2.0.2.7, users can now also purchase monthly or yearly subscription instead of the life-time purchase (which is also available).  The monthly and yearly subscriptions can be renewed manually or automatically.

Can I use the Smyle Mouse™ head mouse on Android and iOS?

Currently Smyle Mouse runs only on Windows devices. We plan to release iOS and Android versions of our head mouse in the future.

How do I know what version of Smyle Mouse™ I am running? And how do I get the latest version?

When running the Smyle Mouse head mouse, simply look at the title of the main window to see the version. To get the latest version, go to the main page at https://smylemouse.com and click on the “Start Free Trial” button. When prompted, enter your email address and you will receive an email with a one-time use download link. Click on it to download the installer and run the installer. No other steps are necessary; your current license file will keep on working as before.

What are some recent improvements to Smyle Mouse™ hands-free mouse control?

Smyle Mouse v2.7.4 (released April 22, 2023)

Fixes for scroll feature so that it can be stopped by holding still in the start zone or by a smile.  Fix for dwell clicking bug when using multiple monitors.

Smyle Mouse v2.6.5 (released January 30, 2023)

Introduced easy scrolling based on Click Opts window.  Scrolling speed is adjustable based on amount of head displacement from the start position of the scroll.  My Smyle tab was added to Settings window to display basic information about the registered copy of Smyle Mouse, as well as a Reset Settings button to get all settings reset to default values.

Smyle Mouse v2.5.1 (released January 12, 2023)

This version included default settings that help minimize settings tweaks by beginner users.  It also includes smart algorithms to figure out user intent (clicking versus click-and-drag) resulting in ease of use.

Smyle Mouse v2.4.6 (released November 08, 2022)

This improvement includes an exciting feature called Turbo Mode for Head Pointing.  It allows hands-free control of your mouse pointer even when using two or more large display screen / monitors, while using just one webcam.  Turbo Mode allows your mouse pointer to travel large screen distances without losing pixel perfect accuracy.  This can be a game changer for people with severe restrictions on their head motion.  However, it can also be an ease of use feature for everyone, regardless of how many computer monitors they use.  We also made enhancements to enable precise control of scrolling speed.  That makes for a much easier document reading and internet browsing experience.

Smyle Mouse v2.3.4 (released August 2022)

This provides improved user feedback based on the green versus pink facial highlights.  It also included bug fixes for minimizing false positive detection of smile gesture.  A new setting was included to automatically minimize the Main Window at the end of the calibration process upon restart of Smyle Mouse.

Smyle Mouse v2.2.0

This version of our hands-free head mouse was released on March 29, 2021.  Its primary objective was to fix an issue exposed after the latest Windows update.  Some users started experiencing mouse pointer display issues wherein the display of the mouse cursor degraded after every smile.  E.g., the mouse cursor would shrink in size or became blurry after smile clicking.  This release also fixes a minor issue during registering your device.

Smyle Mouse v2.1.0

This release was intended to be a robustness and performance release.  Improved face tracking allows for quick recovery even when view of facial features is lost upon the user turning their head away from the camera.  Performance is improved as much as 33% in certain situations!  A new setting (“Frame Rate” on the Preferences tab of Settings window) provides greater control to the user in achieving the pointer motion smoothness while trading off against CPU utilization.

Smyle Mouse v2.0.2

This introduced ability to purchase Smyle Mouse on a monthly or yearly subscription basis.  This provide easy payment options to our customers.  It also included adjustments to default settings to make the experience to new users much easier without sacrificing any of the features needed for advanced users.  You will find that the mouse motion is smoother and smile clicking is easier for new users.  Advanced users can tweak pointing and clicking settings to get greater control on finer drag motions that need to be performed slowly, for example for doing fine art work.  The greatly improved range of mouse motion (for a given amount of head motion) brings additional comfort to the user.

Smyle Mouse v1.9.8

This included changes for smoother mouse motion, allowing click only mode (via Adaptive Switch mode).  This is especially helpful for people with Parkinsons or carpal tunnel syndrome.  It also includes ability to prevent inadvertent clicks upon excessive head motion.  It shows onscreen messages such as when face or lips are not visible. The release also includes bug fixes related to mouse dragging functionality.

The previous version (v1.9.6) provided ability to have only the Pause click button on the Click Options window. Click Options window can now be smaller and therefore tucked away at a convenient place on the desktop, thereby minimizing the amount of screen space. This is greatly beneficial when using AAC programs. The release also provides ability to control the level of head motion filtering at the start of a smile. This is an ease of use feature for new users or users with poor head control.

Does the Smyle Mouse™ head mouse require calibration?

The short answer is no, but we do recommend our quick 10-second calibration for best performance. Simply follow the simple instructions, such as hold your head steady for 2-3 seconds and smile for 2-3 seconds, and you are done!

What are the system requirements to use the Smyle Mouse™ Head Mouse?

Smyle Mouse head mouse software currently runs only on the Microsoft Windows operating system. It is designed to run on Windows 7 and above.

Our head mouse has very modest hardware requirements. A webcam with a resolution of at least 480 X 240 is sufficient. We encourage you to use the front facing camera that is part of your laptop or tablet, but you can use an external webcam if you so choose. For best performance, we recommend a dual core CPU with speed of at least 1.5Ghz, 4GB RAM memory and 1/2 GB of free disk space.

If you are not sure about your exact computer specifications, just go ahead and download the software, and take it for a spin!

What patents is Smyle Mouse hands-free head control based on?

The hands-free control technology in Smyle Mouse is based on US Patent #s 9013264, 9785242, 10137363, 10191558 and 10884493.  Further, there are multiple patents pending.