Integramouse +

[JamesW]

Hi all,

Attached is a picture of me using my iPad pro and Integramouse+ set up at home. The Integramouse is a mouth controlled mini joystick that you move with your lips, you also ‘sip’ and ‘puff’ into it for left click and right click. The mouse connects by USB to the iPad and you will need an adapter to allow the use of the USB and still have your power cable connected. It was supplied to me by my NHS Electronic Assistive Technologies team when I was no longer able to use a normal keyboard and mouse. As I still have speech and facial movement I am able to use this device and have been doing so for two years now. Whilst it will never be as quick as your finger or your wrist it nevertheless is very intuitive and allows me to still utilise the full functionality of my iPad.

Through the accessibility and assistive touch functions on the iPad I am able to select two-finger gestures so that I can still pinch and zoom, this can be a bit of a faff having to select a new cursor but by using the touch menu on the screen it isn’t too time consuming. For typing you can use the mouse to tap away on your on-screen keyboard but I prefer to use speech to text (which takes some getting used to but it’s great once you have mastered it).

As I can no longer hold my iPad you will see that I have purchased a fixed iPad holder and also a second holder with a camera mount for the Integramouse. It took a bit of playing to get the distances right so that I was comfortable but now I just drive up to my mouthpiece and away I go.

I no longer use a PC as I prefer my iPad but you can use the Integramouse with Windows machines or Macs. For those interested I am using a 12.9 inch iPad Pro which is the largest screen they do, I just find this size much easier in this type of set up than the smaller screens. Mine was a refurbished one that I bought from Amazon.

I hope you find my post useful 😊😊😊

James x

[LindaB]

JamesW thanks for going to such lengths to give a thorough post 🤗👍🏻

[Ellie]

Thanks for posting this James 👍👍

Can I ask if your breathing is affected/much affected? I'm wondering if the Integramouse could be used by those of us with impaired breathing.

Through the accessibility and assistive touch functions on the iPad I am able to select two-finger gestures so that I can still pinch and zoom, this can be a bit of a faff having to select a new cursor but by using the touch menu on the screen it isn’t too time consuming.

Are there still occasions when you have to physically touch the screen, or am I misunderstanding you? xx

[JamesW]

Thanks for posting this James 👍👍

Can I ask if your breathing is affected/much affected? I'm wondering if the Integramouse could be used by those of us with impaired breathing.


Are there still occasions when you have to physically touch the screen, or am I misunderstanding you? xx

Hi Ellie,

I currently only have mild respiratory symptoms. The amount of breath required to operate the mouse is fairly minimal as the mouthpiece has a small diaphragm at the rear of it (which you have to change and clean occasionally). I would not be able to say how impaired your breathing would need to get before you could no longer operate this device but if you could still use a straw to drink with you would have more than enough power to operate this.
I never have to touch the screen, the two-finger gestures are an on screen cursor. Occasionally I may need a helper to use the power button for me if I need to reset the device other than that I can do everything myself using either the mouse or my voice.

James x

[Lynne K]

Thanks James x

[Ellie]

if you could still use a straw to drink with you would have more than enough power to operate this.

It's the puff action which I could see being a greater issue, but certainly for people with good respiratory function, mouth seal and swallow, it's a great option.

Thanks again 👍👍 xx

[Ellie]

I found this short video on the Integramouse Plus (ingenious!):

[PeterPan]

I’m very grateful for the post and for the subsequent questions and answers. I’ve learnt a great deal. My mouth seal isn’t great but I reckon I could manage to use the Integramouse Plus. It would be nice to try it, and I’ll explore further with the local environmental controls people.

[matthew55]

I can't see it working for me but I have a meeting with some people about ways to communicate next week. 😁👍✌️😘xx

[JamesW]

I’m very grateful for the post and for the subsequent questions and answers. I’ve learnt a great deal. My mouth seal isn’t great but I reckon I could manage to use the Integramouse Plus. It would be nice to try it, and I’ll explore further with the local environmental controls people.

Hi Peter,

The mouse not only comes with spare mouthpieces and diaphragms but it also includes a piece of clear silicon tube that fits over the tip of the mouthpiece that effectively increases the diameter and helps with mouth seal issues.

James

[JamesW]

It is worth noting that when approaching the Electronic Assistive Technologies team that the IT technician is also supported by an OT. This helps to make sure that any solution put in place is going to work properly for you. I can only speak from my experience with Derbyshire but they have been absolutely fantastic and helped me in various other ways including home automation advice and also providing voice controls for my profile bed functions.

James x

[Ellie]

James, I'm asking for a man I met recently, if you don't mind. He can't really tell from the promo blurb.

Using Integramouse+, is there much that you need voice control for?

and

Is there much that you cannot do, e.g., file management, memory mananagement, as well as day-to-day stuff (not power on obvs)

Thanks 😘

[JamesW]

Ellie You do not need to be able to use voice control, I just do use it because I still have my speech and it makes typing quicker. The mouse simply appears as a cursor on the screen in the same way a PC mouse would do. If you cannot use voice then you can tap words out using the on-screen keyboard and then selecting the predictive text option if you wish.

There is absolutely nothing I cannot do and you can even select a ‘two finger’ cursor so that you can still pinch and zoom. Incidentally I can even power on in a fashion as I leave the iPad in a screensaver state which can be woken by moving the mouse when I come back to it.

Would this person be able to obtain one of these for a trial maybe? I was left mine for a while by the electronic assistive technologies team to see how I got on with it. Depending on the skill levels it also might be worth getting some help to set up some of the accessibility functions to make using an on-screen cursor much simpler.

James 😘😘😘

[Ellie]

Thanks Sweetie.

Yes he'll trial one when he can - the trial one is due back in a couple of weeks, then it's his turn.

He's very tech savvy so was wondering if it would frustrate him so much as to make to make the huge migration to Windows based eye tracking 😏😬

[JamesW]

Ellie I don’t use eye tracking technology, but I have it on very good authority from my EAT technician that the integramouse is much much quicker. 😉