How to Use ALSChat

ALSChat offers two ways to select letters, depending on how much movement the patient has. Pick the mode that fits today, and switch anytime from the ☰ menu.

✋ 1. Manual Mode

A caregiver sits facing the patient, watches which direction the patient's eyes point, and taps the matching group/letter. No camera is needed.

Illustration of a caregiver and patient sitting on opposite sides of a tablet, with a dotted line showing the patient's gaze pointing at the top-left letter group

The caregiver and patient sit facing each other with the screen between them. The caregiver watches where the patient's eyes point and taps that spot on the screen.

  1. Full manual-mode board with six letter groups arranged around the screen

    The screen is split into 6 groups arranged in a circle. The caregiver sits across from the patient and watches which group the patient's eyes point toward — e.g. the 10 o'clock group (top-left).

  2. Opened A B C D E group after tapping the 10 o'clock circle

    Once the caregiver taps that group, it opens into individual letters. The patient then looks at one letter — e.g. B at the 2 o'clock position — and the caregiver taps it.

  3. Letter B entered in the text field with word-prediction chips shown

    The selected letter appears in the text box at the top, and word predictions show up right away — tapping one finishes the word or sentence.

😉 2. Semi-automatic Mode (blink scanning)

The patient can use this alone, without a caregiver right next to them — only a front-facing camera is required. Groups and letters highlight one at a time; the patient blinks for about half a second to confirm.

  1. Settings menu with Tap/click and Semi-automatic radio options

    A caregiver opens the ☰ menu in the top-left and, under "Selection Method," chooses "Semi-automatic scanning (blink to select)."

  2. Full-screen semi-automatic board with the top-left A-E group highlighted in blue

    The patient can now use the board alone in full screen. Each group is highlighted in turn, by default every 1 second — here the 10 o'clock A/B/C/D/E group is highlighted.

  3. Individual letters A through E highlighted one at a time inside the opened group

    Blinking for about half a second while a group is highlighted opens it, and the same scanning continues letter by letter. Blinking again while the target letter (e.g. D) is highlighted selects it.

  4. Suggested-word chips shown above the board

    The word-suggestion chips above the board scan the same way — blinking while a suggested word is highlighted completes the word or sentence instantly.

  5. Scan-interval control showing 2 seconds with plus/minus buttons

    The +/- control in the top-right adjusts the scan interval from 0.7 to 5 seconds — set it to match how quickly the patient can blink on purpose.

Try it now

Open ALSChat and pick the mode that fits today — you can always change it later from the ☰ menu.

Open ALSChat