WoW gaze interaction: Necessary? Probably not. Cool? Yes.
- May 5th, 2008
- Read 323 times
- 4 Comments
We tested some eye-tracking software like this at CeBIT this year but this takes the concept to a whole other level. It’s basically a system for tracking your gaze that has been retrofitted to work with WoW. Why? I guess it could let the handicapped or, sadly, the catastrophically lazy, play the game without having to touch a keyboard. My money is on the former.
Eye-gaze systems bounce infrared light from LEDs at the bottom of a computer monitor and track a person’s eye movements using stereo infrared cameras. This setup can calculate where on a screen the user is looking with an accuracy of about 5 mm.
Very cool. Never mind the productivity and communication advantages of this system, I can imagine that for those with disabilities having a virtual world for them to interact in with might be a way for them to experience a mobility that they do not usually have.
If I understand it properly, this system should also allow for a huge leap in realism for 3d graphics because it would allow you to do something you can’t now: depth of field — your eyes could focus on an object in a rendered scene and the areas at different distances would blur, just like how your eyes work, but reversed sort of, since your eyes aren’t refocusing on distance, the scene is.
This technology is from Tobii Technology. Our Assistive Technology division sells eye control technology to people with disabilities. The best thing about our technology - other than that it works - is that you don’t have to keep your head still to use it.
The technology is also used in:
Scientific research - Where do babies look? (What do babies understand?)
Market research - Do you notice the product, or just the model, in our ad?
Web design - Can people find their way around our page?
With this technology and brain control computer, all currently used input devices could be replaced.
Prepare to say goodbye to keyboard and mouse in 10 years!