The evolution of interfaces for consumer electronics is usually concerned with touch, or at minimum how the user may use physical movement or contact to control technology. Innovations in touchscreens, glove-based interfaces and motion sensing products certainly come to mind. There have also been developments in alternative control methods; those utilizing sound and sight. Voice control has recently become a well integrated part of our technology in many spheres; Apple's Siri is a testament to this development.
Sight based interface control is emerging as another paradigm within which to control the technology, and its becoming readily accessible at a consumer level. Two notable examples of these developments have come out of Samsung and Tobii Technologies, both who are interested in controlling a user interface based on the positioning of the user's eyesight.
Samsung, though criticism of the effectiveness of their technology has been raised, has inserted multiple sight tracking components into some of its new products. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy S IV has 'eye-scrolling' technology which enables the device to direct scrolling through tracking of the user's eyesight. In addition, samsung describes a brightness control feature where the phone will light up or dim itself based on whether or not a user is looking at the phone; a decision based on information gathered from the front facing camera.
Tobii has also been developing eye tracking technology, but has chosen to insert this technology in the world of gaming rather than personal devices. A promotional video on their sight outlines the features of the technology and its integration into gaming. Some of the interesting possibilities they highlight include A.I. characters who interact with you if you look at them, as well as moving around games' mini-maps based on eye sight, and lastly showing the possibility of directing characters by a comination of eyesight for location and hot-key for direction.
These technologies, while not fully fleshed out or developed, represent the beginning of a new approach to user interfaces. Perhaps the most interesting implication of this technology is how intuitive it may make technology use. Should this technology develop to full fruition, I find it likely that a paradigm shift will occur, similar to the shift which occurred upon the widespread accessibility of touchscreens.
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/512086/samsungs-eye-scroll-hints-at-post-interactive-interfaces/
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/samsungs-new-smartphone-will-track-eyes-to-scroll-pages/
http://www.tobii.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment