Your next smartwatch might be controlled with your eyes

TechzTalk:

Turning lights on and off; changing the volume of a song; flicking between TV channels. All of these can be done on a smartwatch already -- and now they can be done without even touching the screen.

Research into eye tracking software has led researchers to an innovative new "smooth" scrolling method which they say is similar to the eye's movement.

The researchers, from the University of Lancaster, adapted a smartwatch to be controlled by circular movements of the eye. Watching a small dot move around a screen triggers an option -- in the same way as pressing a physical button or tapping on a screen -- can change a setting.

"For smart watches I think this is quite significant because the watch is designed to be operated by the eyes -- that's the whole point of why we moved on from a pocket watch to a watch that we can look at without needing our hands," said Hans Gellersen who worked on the project.

"This mechanism of trigger functions by following motions can also be used in other settings, so for example TV controls. You could look at the screen over a distance and select motions to select functions." Each screen can have multiple functions on, with its own spinning dots, that can be used to change different sections. To ensure the wrong dots aren't selected they can move at other speeds.

"The watch is designed to be operated by the eyes -- that's the whole point of why we moved on from a pocket watch to a watch that we can look at without needing our hands."

Hans Gellersen, University of Lancaster

The eye-tracking system works using a head mounted camera that monitors the eye's movement and is an off-the-shelf Pupil Labs Pro device. However, Gellersen says the when smartwatches have inbuilt cameras of a high quality they will be able to monitor the eye's movement.

Eye-tracking is being developed across a number of different fields, including by advertisers monitoring browsing habits for marketing purposes, predictive tracking to control cars, and also potentially inclusion in future versions of the Oculus Rift. Gellersen said that eye tracking has "become cheap" but it is "not clear" what the "big applications will be".

He said the circular selection system works in a way that is more natural than existing eye tracking systems. "In order to trigger a button by looking at it, in the past, they make people look for longer and to stare at a button but that is very unnatural and tiring for the eye," he said.

"If we instead show moving elements on the screen then it is very natural for the eye to follow the motion and that is not trying at all as that's how the eye naturally works."

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