Our interactions with gadgets continue to get more and more natural and instinctive. Yesterday at CeBit 2011 Tobii showed off a very promising technology. The Swedish company collaborated with Lenovo to create the world’s first eye-controlled laptop. The laptop has a sensor bar below its display that tracks the user’s eyes. Once calibrated, it lets the user perform a variety of additional functions using their eyes, such as switching between open application windows or firing up a quick access taskbar.
Other useful features of the technology include notifications that pop up right on the spot where you’re looking at. Engadget also mentioned an eye-controlled game demo, although sadly they didn’t capture it in the demo video below.
A video used to be embedded here but the service that it was hosted on has shut down.I like how Tobii is smart enough to realize that their technology isn’t meant to replace the keyboard or the mouse, rather it can serve as a complimentary way of controlling a device. Imagine playing a video game where the camera follows the movement of your eyes, or allows you to reload, access the menu or pause the game when you look off screen or at a corner. Or displays that only turn on when you’re looking at them. Or computers that can be controlled even when you’re a bit far away – the boss is coming! hide facebook! Just being able to switch windows or tabs using only your eyes makes it much faster to work on a computer. Man, the future is AWESOME.
[via Engadget]
