First Look at Augmental MouthPad, a Trackpad Operated with Your Tongue

The Augmental MouthPad, developed by MIT Media Lab spinoff engineers, is a smart intra-oral interface customized to the user’s mouth. It’s essentially a tongue-operated trackpad that can connect to several personal devices, addressing the relevant needs for people with quadriplegia and limited hand control.

By harnessing the innate dexterity of the tongue, MouthPad converts the user’s tongue position and pressure into cursor actions by processing signals through a machine-learning algorithm inside its processor. These commands are transmitted through Bluetooth to the connected device and then translated into cursor movements as well as clicks. Each MouthPad is personalized through a process of intra-oral scanning that generates a 3D model of their mouth. Or, you could always get this Pikachu mouse if a tongue-operated trackpad isn’t up your alley. There’s no word yet on pricing or availability.

As our lives become increasingly intertwined with technology, and the world expands from the physical to the digital, it’s more important than ever to ensure that everyone has equal access to control inputs and new interfaces. Interactions with these systems must be designed to cater to how humans perceive, process, and act,” said Tomás Vega, Co-Founder and engineer at Augmental.