This is how we will control computers in the future; only with our eyes25 Feb 2021 11:38
British physicist Stephen Hawking, largely paralyzed by the muscle disease ALS, used the technology for years to communicate. The sensors detected minimal cheek movements, which Hawking used to operate his text and speech computer.
Awake and alert
But the technology remained as a special application for a long time. In addition to people with physical disabilities like Hawking, advertising researchers, among others, used it to analyze the reading behavior of test subjects. And providers such as Ergoneers from Munich, Pupil Labs from Berlin, imotions from Copenhagen or Mirametrix from Montreal supply so-called eye tracking systems for ergonomics research or to monitor in cars or airplanes that drivers or pilots stay focused.
Now, however, eye tracking is leaving the niche. The most important driver for this was the computer game scene. Manufacturers such as the Swedish specialist Tobii have developed inexpensive, compact sensors that can be connected to any computer. PC gamers in particular are already using eye trackers by the millions to control the focus of the game and the direction of the characters' gaze by moving their eyes. It won't stop at computer games, says Tim Bosenick, managing director of Uintent, a consultancy specializing in product usability. 'Gaze control allows faster, more natural human-machine interaction. The technology is ready for the mass market.'
4tiitoo founder Odörfer is also convinced that gaze control will soon make the 'digital anachronism computer mouse' largely obsolete. 'In software,' he points out, 'we have come a long way in the 21st century, for example through the use of artificial intelligence.' In hardware, on the other hand, things are at a standstill: 'To this day, we're still clicking our way across screens with technology from the 1980s.' Including all the disadvantages from mouse arm to distraction from the work flow when office workers constantly switch between keyboard and mouse. It's much more efficient with eye control," promises Odörfer. This is also confirmed by SAP manager Christian Freytag. 'Eye control really excited us,' says the innovation and technology specialist in the software company's IT division. He had come across the start-up in 2018. Today, SAP customers can order NUIA as an add-on for the business software.
Around two dozen companies are already using the technology or testing its use in product development. These include the carmaker Daimler, banks and insurance companies, as well as medium-sized companies such as the Paderborn-based automotive supplier Benteler.
But it won't stop at the desk. The technology group Siemens has already tested whether and how gaze control can be used in industry. And the first customers from the automotive industry are already using the 4tiitoo platform at machine workstations. There, employees can now also record quality checks by eye control instead of having to enter them by hand.
https://www.4tiitoo.com/blog/wirtschaftswoche
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