Dell has revealed a 13-, 15- and 17-inch lineup of thinner, VR-ready Alienware laptops that pack new designs and whiz-bang eye-tracking features. For gamers, the main attraction is support for the latest NVIDIA laptop cards. The big-screen Alienware...
You no longer have to stick to your desk to enjoy a flashy curved display. Acer is unveiling flood of new laptops at Germany's IFA show, and the highlight by far is the Predator 21 X -- according to Acer, the world's first curved screen laptop. As...
If you're hankering for something to spice up The Division after months of playing, getting a Tobii eye tracker is probably your best bet. The Swedish company's devices are now compatible with the PC version of the title, which means the Tom Clancy g...
MSI has revealed that people can now pick up the flagship GT72S laptop for the princely sum of $2,599.99. Unlike other high-end gaming devices, this one has a trick up its sleeve: Tobii's eye-tracking sensor technology. We've previously showed you pr...
If you're looking for a big, powerful gaming laptop, the MSI's GT72 Dominator has always been a solid choice -- but it's never been really interesting. The Dominator is known for a strong build, powerful internals, good speakers and a superb keyboard...
Microsoft's Windows 10 computers have a log in feature called Windows Hello, where users are able to access their devices using facial recognition algorithms. On the downside, the feature was only available on newer devices with depth-sensing cameras...
Tobii’s eye-tracking technology continues to make its way to mainstream devices. We’ve seen it work with laptops, arcade machines and Windows 8 tablets, and now Tobii has partnered with SteelSeries to release the EyeX, an eye-tracking accessory meant to work with PC games.
In case you’re not familiar with Tobii’s technology, its eye tracker uses microprojectors to beam near-infrared light to the users’ eyes. Then the trackers’ sensors analyze the reflections of that light along with the user’s facial features to accurately detect where he’s looking.
In the demo below, Tobii shows three ways that eye-tracking can be used to augment StarCraft II. First is the ability to move the view to a particular location by looking at an enlarged view of the mini-map (i.e. a map). Second is the ability to center the view to the point where the user is looking, and finally the ability to order units where to move, attack and more just by looking at the target. Skip to around 2:45 in the video for the demo:
The EyeX can also be used in e-sports broadcasts and to help developers improve their game by showing where a player is looking as he’s playing. Skip to around 12:30 in the video below to see that function in action:
As you can see the hardware seems quite capable, but it’s not going to succeed if developers don’t integrate it – and integrate it well– into their games.
Tobii & SteelSeries will release EyeX developer kits this year for $195 (USD), but for a limited time they can be bought for a steep discount: $95 for US customers and €75 for non-US customers. Just enter the promo code ‘CES2014′ on Tobii’s online shop when prompted. As with its tablet incarnation, I can see the EyeX being a boon not just for creating better or new ways to play games, but to help the disabled play conventional games as well. I hope developers and hardware hackers will explore that possibility too.
A couple of years ago, Tobii made headlines when they unveiled their eye-tracking sensor. We first saw it installed on a laptop and then on gaming machines. Now Tobii wants to ride the tablet revolution with the EyeMobile, an add-on for Windows 8 Pro tablets.
The EyeMobile makes use of Tobii’s USB-based PCEye Go sensor, a custom mounting bracket that doubles as a tablet stand and a Windows 8 Pro tablet. Tobii will be selling a bundle that includes the Dell Latitude 10 tablet, but you can also buy the sensor and the bracket separately if you already have a Windows 8 tablet.
In their hands-on with the EyeMobile, Digital Trends found the sensor to be quite accurate. Going back to the tablet in the top image, you can see a virtual dock on the right edge of the screen. You first have to look at one of the icons on the dock then look elsewhere to perform an action. For instance, if you want to left-click on something, you can’t just look at the thing you want to click. You first have to look at the left-click icon on the dock and then at the thing you want to click. It’s a bit tedious, but for people with certain disabilities this is a great way – if not the only way – for them to use modern technology. In addition, the PCEye Go sensor can be detached from the mounting bracket and used with a laptop or computer.
Tobii will be selling the PCEye Go sensor for $3,900 (USD) while the bracket costs $350. They’re pricey for sure, but it’s way better than nothing. Check out this video if you want to see how life-changing Tobii’s eye-tracking sensor can be (and if you need a good cry.)
While Tobii has a peripheral that brings eye tracking to Windows PCs of all sorts, there's little doubt that an integrated approach would be more elegant. The company agrees: it's partnering with Synaptics on a concept Ultrabook (seen above) that combines both Gaze UI and Synaptics' pressure-sensitive ForcePad in a showcase of new input methods. The partners haven't said just what new tricks they'll demonstrate, if any, but it's clear that there won't be a size penalty when the concept is as slim as the laptops in stores today. Synaptics and Tobii plan to tour the PC throughout the industry during the summer and the fall, and they're no doubt hoping that a few vendors use the concept as inspiration.
We know what you think this hands-on is about. That laptop you see up there has a Tobii eye-tracking sensor affixed to it, and you're probably wondering why we're still dwelling on it after gettinghands-on twice at CES 2012 and once more at CES 2013. But that's not what we're here to show you today. While wandering the halls of Mobile World Congress, we came across NUIA (Natural User Inter Action), a German company whose software is designed to make it easier for developers to code apps that make use of eye tracking sensors, such as Tobii's. In particular, devs will only have to write one extension, even if they're making use of multiple sensing devices (e.g., eye control and gesture recognition).
That comes in handy for a game like Fruit Ninja, as the required gestures extend beyond the bounds of what Tobii can do by itself. (Tobii lets you do things like zoom in, select objects and scroll, but not swipe flying fruit.) If you venture past the break, you'll see yours truly trying (and occasionally succeeding) at Fruit Ninja, though obviously this game is just one use case (albeit, a very fun one). There's nothing stopping developers from applying this to creative, productivity or even enterprise apps, too. As for availability, well, it's pretty clear the hardware will have to come before the software -- a NUIA spokesperson told us she doesn't expect its kit will be commercially available until sensing devices like Tobii become integrated into Windows 8 PCs. And if Tobii is any indication, that might not happen until next year at the earliest.
Dell has revealed a 13-, 15- and 17-inch lineup of thinner, VR-ready Alienware laptops that pack new designs and whiz-bang eye-tracking features. For gamers, the main attraction is support for the latest NVIDIA laptop cards. The big-screen Alienware...
You no longer have to stick to your desk to enjoy a flashy curved display. Acer is unveiling flood of new laptops at Germany's IFA show, and the highlight by far is the Predator 21 X -- according to Acer, the world's first curved screen laptop. As...
If you're hankering for something to spice up The Division after months of playing, getting a Tobii eye tracker is probably your best bet. The Swedish company's devices are now compatible with the PC version of the title, which means the Tom Clancy g...
MSI has revealed that people can now pick up the flagship GT72S laptop for the princely sum of $2,599.99. Unlike other high-end gaming devices, this one has a trick up its sleeve: Tobii's eye-tracking sensor technology. We've previously showed you pr...
If you're looking for a big, powerful gaming laptop, the MSI's GT72 Dominator has always been a solid choice -- but it's never been really interesting. The Dominator is known for a strong build, powerful internals, good speakers and a superb keyboard...
Microsoft's Windows 10 computers have a log in feature called Windows Hello, where users are able to access their devices using facial recognition algorithms. On the downside, the feature was only available on newer devices with depth-sensing cameras...
