Courtesy
With more than 48 million Americans having physical disabilities, providing accessibility for everyday tasks is an important task. If a person struggles with using fingers or hands, how can TV watching be possible? Comcast developed a feature enabling people to use eyes to control their TV. Xfinity X1 eye control is a web-based remote for tablets and computers that uses an eye gaze software. When Xfinity customers pair the web-based remote with their set-top-box, the system allows TV viewers to change TV channel, search for a show, and set recording by gazing at buttons. Using this feature, viewers can turn on X1 Sports App that shows real-time sports statistics, or turn on closed captioning and voice guidance. If other apps are available, such as Netflix and YouTube, they can be navigated using eyes as well. In addition, if connected to Xfinity Home services, the interface also allows users to control smart locks or thermostats with eyes.
This technology came from the observation that many people who lost fine motor skills used eye-tracking devices to use computers. The eye-tracking devices typically shine an infrared light at eyes and track pupils. People can click a button by either linger on it or blink, if the blink mode is chosen.
Link: Webpage
Contact: Email
Location: Pennsylvania, US
Mentioned: among the best inventions of the year by Time
Summary
Purpose
Navigate TVs without fine motor skills
Idea
Use eye-tracking software to develop eye-based interface
Further Possibilities
1. AR-based interface for machines
2. Use eye-tracking data to study human attention in web and machines
3. Eye-controlled sports games
4. Develop glasses that can be used for universal eye-control
5. Study eye movement and conditions and see if they indicate emotions
Questions
1. What might be all the ways to interact with computers?
2. What skills make human human?
3. What are all the uses of the eye-tracking data?
