Swedes Debut Eye-Tracking PC Control System

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
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Swedes Debut Eye-Tracking PC Control System

A Swedish technology company introduces a system that can reliably track eye movements to help control a PC.

I'm not saying that you'll want to raid Blackwing Descent with it, but the Tobii PCEye apparently does a decent enough job translating your flickering gaze to browse the web and aid in prductivity. After mounting the PCEye under your monitor, connecting the device via USB, and a short calibration, it will be able to read your eye movements even under low light conditions or if you move your head. Like the Microsoft Kinect, the processing for this technology occurs on the unit so it won't slow down your computer to a molassses-like drip. People who have suffered strokes or a debilitating disease are currently the target audience for the PCEye, a representative from Tobii said, but good luck affording the tech. A PCEye unit currently costs $7,000.

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"We have already seen massive interest from the Stroke, Motor Neurone Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis communities, people in different rehab situations, military veterans, people suffering from progressive muscle weakness or neurodegenerative disorders and education institutions," said Tara Rudnicki from Tobii. "We are also overwhelmed by the attention we have received from the development community to extend into Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) eye games."

If a group does purchase the unit, the system supports multiple calibration profiles that can be switched on the fly. The unit also boasts that it can register eye movement 95 percent of the time no matter if you wear glasses or contact lenses.

While obviously the technology from Tobii is a bit too expensive for the basic consumer level right now, the possibilities for a control scheme based on moving your eyes are pretty amazing. Imagine a first person shooter that displays different views when you shift your eyes. Or a Terminator-type HUD that pops up new information or audiologs based on where you are looking.

Here's a demonstration of a hybrid control scheme on a laptop PCEye unit that uses eye-tracking to enhance how you normally use a computer.


Neat stuff.

Source: Gizmag [http://www.tobii.com/en/assistive-technology/global/products/hardware/pceye/]


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NoDamnNames

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Feb 25, 2009
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within a week of the release $10 says there will be some weird Japanese originated "How long can you stare at a woman's breasts in public" game.

you need to know when to avert your eyes and when to stare.... >_>
If she catches you she slaps you and the game is over.

called it.
 

Cpt Corallis

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Apr 14, 2009
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This is cool but as I have a drifting eye, I could see serious problems for me if i ever try to use it....

No PC! Stop clicking random links! I want to go to my homepage!
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
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Eye-input controls...

A gimmick I like upon announcement. This is a rare occasion.
 

Thunderios

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Jun 9, 2010
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If you replace the mouse clicking with a headset that can read your thoughts (http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tan_le_a_headset_that_reads_your_brainwaves.html) you don't need a mouse.
I once thought something like this would be nice so you wouldn't have to point-and-click when you're filling in a form (of course you can use tab...)
 
Sep 14, 2009
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this actually looks pretty cool, especially for typing, you can keep your hands on the keyboard to keep the flow going and your eyes do the mouse part basically.
 

mr-fix_it

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Apr 15, 2009
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Damn i can already think of possibilities for games whit this technology (not just fps super aim) but for example rts where the map scrools if you look at the edge and if you look at at a unit card/build button the informations shows up (like when you hold the mouse over it) and mutch more. Awesome really.
 

Wolfram23

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Mar 23, 2004
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That is cool and definitely exciting tech, although I think I like the brainwave reader ones better.
 

omicron1

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Mar 26, 2008
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Best use for this: Resolution density.

The human eye has more rods and cones at the center of vision, where you're focusing. Mere inches away, the details are blurred, and at the periphery of your vision, only rough shapes are visible. Currently, monitors simply display full detail across the entire picture, effectively drawing much more than the eye is taking in. A waste of processing power by anyone's standards...

So I propose that this could be used to similar effect. If you can track the eyes' direction at 60fps, you can put this to good use at low latency: Have full resolution in a certain area where the eyes are focused, then gradually lower the resolution as you move away, ending with very low, very fast-to-render data at the edges of the screen. Add some good blurring effects, and voila! Instant 2x speed boost!

Potential disadvantages:
* Latency
* Tracking multiple users
 

frago roc

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Aug 13, 2009
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Fuck 3D, I am more excited for this next gen tech - like he mentioned at the end of the video, adventure games that have npcs respond to you looking at them... very intriguing.
 

Brotherofwill

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Jan 25, 2009
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Oh man, there's gonna be so many uses of this device in relation to breasts. The applications are endless.

Time will tell if the old mouse isn't quicker and common usage could get very old, altough not as stupidly old and tiresome as using your arms. Hehe, using your arms as a control measure for interactive media, who thought of that genius timewaste?
 

ratman995

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Nov 30, 2009
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yeah i can see that being completely useless, touch screens maybe but eye movements are not spefic enough for the computer
 

Ruptuk

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Nov 6, 2010
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This isn't new and has been studied with games for many years. Simillar to 3DS cards. I did it at uni with a Tobii set up. It's a great piece of tech but for gaming it is exceptionally limited and people in studies on the subject found that the more traditional games became easier as there was nothing to expect to happen. Most games we need our eyes to be else where whilst performing actions.