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    Windows 8 to get eye control 'Gaze' interface (video)

    By Jeffrey Van Camp | Digital Trends – Thu, Jan 5, 2012

    Tobii has been working to push eye control into the consumer space for several years now, but the fruits of its efforts may be coming sooner than we think. Today, the company has announced that it will release an eye control “Gaze” interface for Windows 8, allowing users with the proper equipment to use their eyes to select items and perform actions on their tablet or computer screen. 

    “Pointing at something by looking at it is intuitive, natural and immediate. Using a mouse to do the same thing is less so, as it involves an intermediate step of moving a mouse-pointer around,” says Henrik Eskilsson, CEO and co-founder, Tobii Technology. “Gaze is as natural and intuitive as touch, as precise as the mouse and more ergonomic and effortless than both. Once you have experienced Gaze, a laptop without it feels just as ancient as a laptop without a touch pad.”

    The Gaze interface, which we’ll check out at CES next week, will translate Windows 8′s built-in touch gestures–like slide to drag, tap, pinch to zoom, and swiping–into eye control actions, which are performed in coordination with a touchpad. The only downside is that you have to have a special infrared eye sensor attached to your laptop or tablet to do it. Tobii is hoping to work with manufacturers to build the technology right into future devices. Last year, we got the chance to check out the company’s prototype eye-controlled laptop built in coordination with Lenovo and more recently Tobii launched an eye-controlled arcade game in New York.

    We’ll give a complete hands-on of the new technology when we meet up with Tobii on the show floor next week. Windows 8 is currently scheduled to launch later this year, possibly around September. 

    The video below gives a brief demonstration of Tobii’s concept. 

    This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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    8 comments

    • Stephen
      Stephen  •  Louisville, Kentucky  •  4 mths ago
      I so thought of this 10 years ago, glad ppl are making it happen lol
    • Cap10H8Red
      Cap10H8Red  •  Downers Grove, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      thanks Xbox Kinnect! soon we will actually HAVE the VR that kids have been dreaming about since 1985
    • AL2FAST
      AL2FAST  •  4 mths ago
      will this work on my favorite porn sites?? Will this cause me to lose eye contact with the "performer" on the other end of the web cam?
    • Tim
      Tim  •  Montgomery, Alabama  •  4 mths ago
      Wow. How lazy are we. I can see how this can be helpful for people with a disability but the rest of the population is slowly turning into a vegetable. Not to mention eye problems in the future. When do we get the robot that will wipe our #$%$ and cook dinner?
      • E5
        E5 4 mths ago
        Our computers apparently are required to function like children's toys
      • Locs
        Locs 4 mths ago
        I think you fail to recognize that this is not so we become lazy or more lazy, it is for ergonomic. Having to use our hands in a manner that is not the way our hands are suppose to be used will create carpal tunnel. I do understand that we are becoming lazy but when it comes to protecting our health I'm for it. I'm not trying to come off as an attacker but think of the consequence a mouse does to your hand, the way the keyboard is, all this things affect our health and for those of us who wanted to work in the computer field why not make it easier and healthier?
      • AL2FAST
        AL2FAST 4 mths ago
        I think the robot that wipes your #$%$ is a bidet. Screw the robot, I wish my wife would cook dinner more!
    • Miba
      Miba  •  4 mths ago
      This is stupid. It'll flop big time. So how does it work, when your eye stops somewhere the link is clicked? If that were the case I'd be all over the internet and all in under a minute! Eye flicks are extremely fast and simply stopping on a word doesn't mean you want to click the link! Take, for example, the report abuse link on these comments. I'd probably be reporting 99% of the commenters on here with the eye-tool. What about people with OCD? Sometimes I get a tick and have to read the same word over and over until it feels right. Same with clicking, I have to click till it feels right but at least with clicking I can drag the curser over to someplace without a link and click to my heart's content. Do you know how any emails I'd send without meaning to? That's assuming I could get the stupid thing to take me to my email! What about people who like to look at everything on the page? I don't want to manage my updates I just read the link cause it was there. Yet this eye tool would take me there. Unless I'm completely misunderstanding this that also means flashy banner ads will get clicked all the time. Which is just great cause AdSense says if you click our own ads you get banned but the eye-tool would make me click them! Unless it's a specific sort of eye-flick in which case God forbid you have pets, children, or other outside life cause who knows when you might make the accidental eye flick when a pet jumps up on your lap or a child taps your arm. Also not good for video games cause I tend to flick my eyes all over the page which wouldn't be good if it were, say, a bejeweled type game where you flick your eyes all over the screen to look for matches. btw, touch pads are just as bad. You can't control them and they burn your fingers.
    • William S
      William S  •  Las Vegas, Nevada  •  4 mths ago
      Like 3D, another way to go blind!
    • Al
      Al  •  4 mths ago
      I will need privacy guarantees first.
    • Skylar Rhodes
      Skylar Rhodes  •  4 mths ago
      heres an idea..instead of adding more junk, how about fixing whats already there?
     Post a comment
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