Eye-Based Videogame Control

dsmith3689 writes "Researchers at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario have explored the use of an eye tracker as a control device for a handful of commercial video games. To do this, they integrated a Tobii 1750 desktop eye tracker with Quake 2, Neverwinter Nights, and a flash adaptation of Missile Command called Lunar Command. A study was performed that indicates the use of direct feedback from eye movements can drastically increase the feeling of immersion (pdf) in the virtual world."

Comments

Just watch out for the shrapnel

[WillAffleckUW]

It hurts.

Forget video games

[Anonymous Coward]

With this technology you could finally have a window manager that implements "focus follows mind".

Hey!

[obeythefist]

I have a lazy eye, you insensitive clods!

*twitch*

[cheese-cube]

They have had technology like this for a while, although not as a method of input or control. They use special "eye-tracking" machines for hazard perception experiments with automobiles. I think using eye-tracking as an input device would be something that would be very hard to get used to. The human eye is a pretty amazing piece of hardware and I think a "machine" would have a hard time utilising it. Additionally you'd also have to have a special filter for crack addicts that have developed twitches. They could also implement shortcuts where if you roll your eyes it opens Firefox and navigates to Slashdot =P

Re:*twitch*

[ohmypolarbear]

To add to this: we use eye tracking systems in my brain lab (at a major research university). It is, in fact, highly unusual for subjects to only look at one thing, or even to look at whatever they want to do when they do it. There are many extra eye movements (saccades) to other areas of a scene for planning and multitasking, even before the person is conscious of their plans. Here are two papers relating to eye tracking and games in particular:

motion tracking and planning:
Ripoll H. Percept Mot Skills. 1989 Apr;68(2):507-12.

multitasking:
Cavanagh P, Alvarez GA. Trends Cogn Sci. 2005 Jul;9(7):349-54.

Needless to say, any successful attempt at eye-tracking control for something like video games would have a lot of sophisticated programming to do in order to figure out the user's intentions. From my own personal experience, especially in FPS games, I rarely look where I'm shooting. I would like to keep my sensors (eyeballs) and effectors (hands/feet/other body parts) separate, to allow me to take in more information and perform mor actions simultaneously. It would also prevent any weird interactions if the training provided by the games affects the way hardcore gamers attempt to interact with the real world (although those would be very interesting to study).

Cool idea; looks like it still needs work

[StupidKatz]

... or a new interface to software/games to compensate for the apparent lack of accuracy and speed (note the Quake 2 demo video), at least in FPS-style games.

Could absolutely rock if tweaked minutely for flight and other simulation games, though. :)

Why BB2B2B2BB2B sites use "call for price"

[tepples]

Then you discover there's no "Buy Now" button. There's no shopping cart. There's just a Contact tab with a form for you to submit your details. Like you've got to beg to buy their product.

At least in the industrial fan market, the requirement to request a quote is so that larger companies who make competing products can't spider your site and undercut all your prices due to their larger materials buying power. It's actually a rawther common practice in business-to-business markets.

Re:Tobii: Put prices on your web site!

[SQLGuru]

A cheap web cam: http://insidecomputer.stores.yahoo.net/usbwebcamwe p.html $7
This book: http://www.nerdbooks.com/item.php?id=1852336668 $45
GCC compiler: http://gcc.gnu.org/ $0
A lot of time: http://www.time.org/ $0
----------------------
$52 + tax, shipping, etc.

And there you go.

Or just go here: http://www.it4tomorrow.de/shop/index.php?lang=ENG& list=KAT14
Or read this: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/06040 4091149.htm
Which will lead you here: http://www.cogain.org/
Which will lead you here: http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/developm ent/

Now, from there, I'm stuck. I can't find any more information on the OWL. But it was invented in 1987 and could be mass produced for around $10 (according to the link), so I see potential there.

Layne

Independent view point games?

[SteroidG]

I wish they had done some demos on games with independent view point, such as the upcomming Armed Assault, Lock On and other flight sims. I'm really interested to see if it'll work better than TrackIR.

From the Quake 2 demo, it's really not giving any advantages because your moves with the gun and the body. In Armed Assaunt (or Operation Flashpoint for that matter) where environment awareness is much more important (and *gasps* you head is not attached to the gun!), being able to look around means you have a much greater field of view and able to spot more enemies, check on your team mates to stay in formation, and maybe avoiding the helicopter collisions that we so often have.

Re:Hey! Modded funny?

[Were-Rabbit]

Actually, you bring up a very good point. Does this device take things like lazy eye into account? Does it only track the movements of one eye or both? This would be a great tool for those who don't have appropriate use of hands or have some kind of physical damage that would make handling a mouse or trackball difficult or impossible. But could this thing compensate for lazy eye or those who only have one useful eye?

Desktop Environment Control

[vigilology]

The one thing my Windowmaker needs is something to autofocus the window I'm currently looking at. I can't remember how many times I've drifted in thought and looked at another terminal, started typing, only to find I'm still typing in the other one :-)