CES 2014: Tobii’s Eye Tracking Comes To Games

The Xbox Kinect might finally have a real competitor in the gaming world. Tobii’s eye-tracking has been slowly gaining notoriety, but at CES they announced a new tracking system specifically designed for gaming. Not only can it control your desktop, but they’ve released an EyeX Dev Kit for developers to create games with eye tracking integrated into their core. The company notes that at present that eyes can control things like character movement and aiming, but they want to go deeper to create fully-immersive experiences. They’re also working with third party developers: SteelSeries, a prime example, is a new type of sensing stick, and Synaptics are also working to develop new types of hardware integration for Tobii’s technology. These developments could mean that eye-tracking takes on a much deeper and more meaningful purpose in both interactive experiences, advertising, and gaming more broadly.  

PredictGaze Uses Eye Tracking Controls

The Lab has utilized eye tracking to measure attention but startup PredictGaze is taking that a step further by using the technology as way to interface with TVs, iPads and more. Predictgaze’s software leverages everyday webcams to let users control various devices through their eye movements alone. While we haven’t seen the technology in the wild, the findings from the demo look pretty impressive.