Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

What Will Apple Do With Swedish Eye-Tracking Technology?

Posted by timothy on from the oh-just-the-usual dept.

andylim writes "An article on recombu.com explores the possibility that Apple is gearing up to launch eye-tracking technology soon. Citing a patent filed in 2008 that mentions 'gaze vectors' and a recent purchase of units from a Swedish eye-tracking company, the author suggests that the inclusion of eye-tracking tech in the company's forthcoming tablet would be Jobs's magnum opus. 'What better flourish to a career that began with the popularization of windows, icons, mouse and pointer than to usurp them all?'"

4 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. the Eye-pod? by Em+Emalb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Too soon?

    --
    Sent from your iPad.
  2. I don't think he gets it by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    'What better flourish to a career that began with the popularisation of windows, icons, mouse and pointer than to usurp them all?'"

    Eye tracking technology doesn't usurp ANY of that. If anything, eyetracking technology makes windows and icons more useful, since those are designed to hold your attention for the short span that you need them.

    And don't think that this technology would ever replace the mouse. You need a mouse for gaming, amongst many things. One such annoying technology around today is rollover ads. Our eyes often make tiny glances at colours and items that grab our attention.

    Point is, they aren't changing the existing system, merely adding onto it.

  3. Re:You know what I've always wanted? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, clearly something stole the focus and changed your font to retarded.

  4. Hm. Their eyetrackers are not that good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Full disclosure: I am a vision researcher who has worked with most of the available eyetracking systems on the market.

    I had not heard of the company, and a quick look at their product line tells me why not: their standalone systems are limited to 60hz/120hz depending on the model - this was good several years ago, but has been considerably eclipsed by other companies' designs (e.g. S-R Research's Eyelink hardware, which happily does 2000hz monocular tracking). It looks on par with ASL's Eye-trac gear, which has similar limitations.

    I would bet that Apple just bought a few of their systems to use in internal testing - I sincerely doubt that anyone there is using such slow gear for major research.