Tuesday, May 12, 2009

BBC News: The future of gadget interaction

Dan Simmons at BBC reports on future technologies from the Science Beyond Fiction 2009 conference in Prague. The news headline includes a section on the GazeCom project who won the 2nd prize for their exhibit "Gaze-contingent displays and interaction". Their website hosts additional demonstrations.

"Gaze tracking is well-established and has been used before now by online advertisers who use it to decide the best place to put an advert. A novel use of the system tracks someone's gaze and brings into focus the area of a video being watched by blurring their peripheral vision.In the future, the whole image could also be panned left or right as the gaze approaches the edge of the screen. Film producers are interested in using the system to direct viewers to particular parts within a movie. However, interacting with software through simply looking will require accurate but unobtrusive eye tracking systems that, so far, remain on the drawing board... The European Commission (EC) is planning to put more cash into such projects. In April it said it would increase its investment in this field from 100m to 170m euros (£89m-£152m) by 2013. " (BBC source ) More information about the EC CORDIS : ICT program.

External link. The BBC reported Dan Simmons tests a system designed to use a driver's peripheral vision to flag up potential dangers on the road. It was recorded at the Science Beyond Fiction conference in Prague.

The GazeCom project involves the following partners:

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