Setting Up the Head Mouse

This guide takes you from "never tried it" to a comfortable hands-free hour in about ten minutes. The head mouse is free and part of SlyPilot; it needs a camera that looks at you. What the head mouse is and why it points →

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1. Before You Start

• The camera should face you at about eye height: a laptop's or a Surface's front camera is ideal. On a desktop, put the webcam on top of the monitor you look at most.
• Light on your face, not behind you. A window behind your head makes the camera see a silhouette.
• Sit as you normally sit. The head mouse learns your straight ahead.
• One program at a time. If a video call is already using the camera, the head mouse may get no picture (its ring turns orange); end the call's video or pause the head mouse during the call.

2. Switch It On

1. Tray > Window Tools > Head Mouse (Camera), or press Ctrl+Alt+Win+H, or say "head mouse on".
2. The first time, a page explains what the camera is used for (nothing is kept, nothing is sent). Read it and press Start the head mouse.
3. Calibrate. A small window appears in the middle of the screen with a dot. Look at the dot and keep still for a moment. That is your straight ahead; the pointer goes to the middle of the screen.
4. Turn your head a little. The pointer follows. A small ring at the pointer is green while it follows.

Tip: move your head less than you think. A small turn reaches the edges. If you need to stretch, raise the speed in the settings (step 5).

3. Clicking

Pick one way, or mix them.

Holding still (no hands, no voice).

1. Tray > Window Tools > Head Mouse: Click by Holding Still, or say "dwell clicks on".
2. Move to a button and keep still. The ring fills for 1.2 seconds, then it clicks.
3. It only clicks after a movement, so reading or resting doesn't click.

The click bar at the right edge of the screen sets the next click: keep still on Double, Right or Drag (or tap it). Drag: the first rest presses the button, move, the next rest lets go. Clicks on / off stops the clicks while you read.

Voice. With voice commands on, say "click", "double click", "right click". For links and buttons, "show numbers" puts a number on everything clickable; say the number.

A key or a switch. Tray > Utilities > Key Remap..., add a line such as F8 = say:click. An accessibility switch that sends F8 now clicks.

4. Everyday Moves

5. Settings

Tray > Window Tools > Head Mouse Settings... (or "head mouse settings"):

• Speed: raise it if you have to turn far; lower it if the pointer overshoots.
• Time to keep still: longer if it clicks before you're ready, shorter once you're used to it.
• The bar: right, left, or none.
• Where the head points / like a mouse: keep where the head points unless you're used to a push-along head mouse.
• Camera picture: 1280 × 720 (steadier at the edges) or 640 × 360 (lighter on an older PC). The status line shows the pictures per second and the processor share.

6. Make It Your Default

• Welcome > Start from a profile > Hands-free switches on the head mouse and clicks by holding still in one go.
• A mode can switch the head mouse on and off, for example on in a "hands-free" mode you start by voice in the morning.

7. If Something Is Off

The head mouse has been tested on a Surface's front camera. If it behaves differently on your camera, Help and Backup > Report a problem tells us, with nothing of your camera's picture.