Imagine bringing down World of Warcraft enemies with merely an icy stare. A new laptop prototype, developed jointly by Lenovo and eye-tracking specialist Tobii, is the first notebook you can control with your eyes. The 15-inch computer can run gaze-based apps that automatically close when you look away and reopen when you look back, or games that let you aim weapons with your eyes.
To track your pupils’ movement, Tobii tucked a one-inch sensor panel below the monitor. Two infrared lights in the panel reflect off your corneas to produce red-eye-like glare. Those reflections are captured by a pair of cameras 30 to 40 times every second. The computer turns that data into a real-time 3-D model to determine exactly where you’re looking on the screen.
For now, the software is basic, handling such tasks as scrolling through Web pages and helping to select files, but Tobii’s software kit lets developers code their own stare-based applications. Eventually similar technology could activate GPS displays on car windshields and power sanitary buttonless nursing stations in operating rooms.
Range: 17.6 to 29.3 inches
Screen Size: 15 inches
Price: Not set
More Info: Tobii
