Gaze control – the look of things to come?

A Swedish company, Tobii Technology, has invented a prototype laptop that can carry out 100 or so simple commands by using your eyes in what the makers call ‘gaze control’.

Recently showcased at the CeBit technology fair earlier this month in Hanover, the technology works by reflecting infrared light off your corneas, enabling inbuilt sensors to detect to within a few millimetres where your eyes are looking at. To activate gaze control you have to hold down the Alt key so not to inadvertently activate wayward looks or movements. For example it can follow your gaze to automatically scroll down a document that’s being read or open and select from drop down menus or carry out other previously mouse activated commands such as opening bookmarks.

While eye-tracking capabilities have been around for a while, this is the first time it has been installed in a consumer friendly computer. Still in the early stages of development further refinement is required in terms of design, performance and production at an affordable cost.

While it is intended to remove up to 80% of the times you need to click, the makers say it is intended to supplement rather than supplant the mouse or keyboard to speed up and make easier a range of common tasks.

Given the advent of gesture activated devices such as the Xbox Kinect and the continued development of voice activated software beyond the world of HAL to ease inputting content through dictation, I wonder how long it will be before look, gesture and voice interface technologies converge to provide even richer more time efficient digital applications and experiences?

For digital agencies, the challenge will be in how to best harness this to the benefit of brands, businesses and end users through evolving, inventing and blending their skillsets and intellectual know-how.

Just in the same way that giving a film the 3D treatment doesn’t automatically make for a better film, both intelligent application and a good plot is essential. After all sizzle by itself cannot make up for an unsavoury sausage.