Did you know that macOS 10.15 Catalina allows you to control your computer using head and facial gestures? Lets explore this cool feature right now.
Apple always knows how to elevate its computing platform by adding exciting accessibility features. Especially in macOS 10.15 Catalina , you can now control your Mac using head and face gestures. TipsMake.com will guide you step-by-step to set up this new feature.
How to enable gesture control on your Mac
The first thing you need to do is enable gesture control. For these two control features to work, you will also need to grant it camera access.
The steps to follow are as follows:
Step 1
Click the Apple icon on your desktop. Select System Preferences from the menu that appears.
Step 2
A new pop-up window will appear. Here, select Accessibility.
Step 3
A new window will appear. On the left side of the window, scroll down to the Motor section and click Pointer Control.
Step 4
In Pointer Control, click on the Alternate Control Methods bar . Then, check the boxes for Enable Alternate Pointer Actions and Enable Head Pointer.
Step 5
After you select the option, your Mac will ask for permission to access the camera feature; all you need to do is grant the permission.
So now you can start controlling your Mac using head and face gestures. However, you'll still need to customize and personalize these features a bit to suit your needs.
Customize facial expressions to act as controls.
You can set different facial expressions to replace mouse actions such as right-clicking, double-clicking, click-and-drag, etc. To customize these features, you need to follow these steps.
Step 1
In the Alternate Pointer Actions section that you checked earlier, click Options.
Step 2
A new window will appear, where you can see two default toggle keys: F11 for the left mouse button and F12 for the right mouse button.
To add new keyboard actions and facial expressions to replace control actions, tap the " +" icon.
Step 3
In the window that appears, you can choose between Physical switch and Facial expression to configure.
If you press the physical switch, the device will prompt you to press the key you want to change the function of first. Then you need to name this switch. Finally, you need to select the new function for the selected physical key. Then press Done to complete.
For example:
Press the F5 key after selecting Physical switch. Then, in the Action section, select Left Click and press Done.
So instead of holding and clicking the left mouse button, you can press the F5 key instead.
Instead of selecting the Physical switch, you can choose Facial Expression to set up facial expressions as an alternative to mouse input.
These include facial expressions you can use such as:
- Smile: Laugh
- Open Mouth: Open your mouth
- Stick Out Tongue: Stick out your tongue
- Raise Eyebrows: Raise your eyebrows
- Eye Blink: Winking
- Scrunch Nose: Wrinkling the nose
- Pucker Lips Outwards: Pouting outwards
- Pucker Lips Left: Slightly curl your lips to the left.
- Pucker Lips Right: Smirk to the right.
You can use these emoticons instead of actions:
- Left Click: Press the left mouse button
- Right Click: Right-click
- Double Click: Double-click the mouse
- Triple Click: Press the mouse three times.
- Drag and Drop:
After selecting a suitable facial expression to replace the mouse action, select Done to complete the process.
For example:
In Facial Expression, select Smile , in Action select Left , and then press Done.
So you can use the smiley face emoji to replace the left-click action.
Note that you can also enable Play Sounds to hear sounds as actions are performed. Additionally, you can select Show Actions Visually to visually confirm that an action has been performed.
Customize head gestures to mouse movements.
In addition to using facial expressions instead of mouse movements, you can also move your head instead of using mouse cursors.
Step 1
Under Enable Head Pointer, select Options to customize this feature.
Step 2
In the Pointer Moves section, there are options for you to customize, including:
- Relative to Head: The mouse will move whenever you move your head.
- When Facing Screen Edges: The mouse cursor will move based on the direction your face is facing. So if you want to move the cursor to the right, your face needs to be turned to the right.
The Pointer Speed setting allows you to customize the speed of head movements. You can adjust it to suit your personal needs.
Finally, Distance to Edge is a parameter that indicates how many head movements you need to make to move the mouse. The higher this value, the more head movements you need to make.
If you have multiple cameras connected to your Mac, you can select the camera you want to use in Camera Options.
Select OK to complete the customization.
Hopefully, through this article, you can better understand two cool features on your Mac. Additionally, you can also explore other features available on Macs such as:
- How to create and group Reminders lists on macOS
- How to adjust the volume on a Mac