Eye-tracking

​We've seen it in movies many times before … the reluctant witness who looks right at the mug shot of the murderer, and falsely claims that they don't know him. Soon, however, police could know if such people are lying – by watching their eyes.

Presbyopia is a common form of age-induced far-sightedness. Now a Stanford team has developed a pair of high-tech specs called autofocals, which use fluid-filled lenses, depth-sensing cameras and eye-tracking technology to make sure whatever a wearer is looking at stays sharp.

At CES 2019, HTC has unveiled the Vive Pro Eye, which adds eye-tracking to last year’s high-end hardware, and the Vive Cosmos, which turns the tracking inside out. On top of that, HTC has outlined software updates to its content subscription service and something called the “Vive Reality System.”

​Eye-tracking systems certainly would add a lot to augmented reality glasses, but their integration into such eyewear has been limited because they require so much power. That said, scientists have now developed eye-tracking glasses powered by nothing but onboard solar cells.

​When it comes to human-machine interfaces, it would certainly help if computers could get a sense of what sort of people they were dealing with, so they could tailor their responses accordingly. Well, computers in the future may be able to do so, simply by watching how users move their eyes.

​For people who cannot speak, nor move their arms, hands or even heads, computer-connected eye-tracking systems allow for communications via eye movements. Such systems have some drawbacks, however, which a new prototype headset is claimed to address.

VR is great at immersing us in gigantic worlds that seem to go on forever – until you bump into the living room wall. Now computer scientists have developed a system that tricks you into walking around in circles in the real world, while thinking you’re moving longer distances in the virtual world.

The latest HTC Vive accessory promises to bring much-needed eye tracking technology to VR. The Chinese startup 7invensun, fueled by some of HTC’s venture capital, has launched an upgrade kit known as aGlass that claims to bring foveated rendering and real-time eye control to the Vive experience.

When diagnosing autism, doctors rely on reports from parents, and direct observations, but those methods don't always produce concrete results. Now, researchers have looked to eye tracking to streamline the process, providing a solid, early diagnosis.

It's often difficult for coaches on the sidelines of playing fields to diagnose concussions, which is where Boston-based SyncThink's Eye-Sync system comes in. By tracking athletes' eye movements, it can reportedly tell if they're concussed in just one minute.​

MSI's GT72S G Tobii gaming laptop is designed with high-end hardware, including eye-tracking technology that translates eye movements into commands for compatible apps and games.

We've seen a variety of technologies aimed at helping athletic coaches to determine if players who have received knocks to the head are indeed concussed. One of the latest such systems, EyeGuide's Focus, promises to deliver results in just 10 seconds.​