Navigate Windows 8 Using Your Eyes

Navigate Windows 8 Using Your Eyes

For far too long, most of us have been living with boring trackpads and mice. Then touch input became popular via the iPad, and it kind of brought back pen-based input as well. Now thanks to Swedish technology firm Tobii, you can use your "gaze" to navigate around your Windows 8 (Metro) screen.

According to All Things D, the Tobii Gaze works by tracking your eye movements using sensors, within a quarter of an inch (about 7mm). Fine-tuning after your eye locks on to its target can happen with an additional navigation device like a trackpad or a mouse.

Tobii business development manager, Anders Olsson says that current capacitive touch technology is already intuitive enough, and wouldn't benefit as much from assistance from the Tobii Gaze. According to Olsson, it's laptops, or even desktops that would benefit much more from the Tobii Gaze Interface.

“Gaze takes away the whole intermediate step of having a mouse or even using touch technology,” Olsson said in an interview. “We see this as an important innovation because, compared to tablets, laptops feel very ancient right now, in terms of user experience.”

Tobii Gaze isn't exactly new. It's been around since 2001 and had been used to assist people with severe disabilities among other medical research uses.

However if you're looking to get one now, you're out of luck because Tobii doesn't plan to sell it directly to consumers. Instead they are looking to partner up with manufacturers to have the technology bundled with new machines.

Tobii isn't officially partnered up with Microsoft, but it won't stop Microsoft from showing off some Tobii eye-tracking action on their anticipated Windows 8 during CES next week.

Source: All Things D