Ultrabook Prototype Combines Touch and Eye-Tracking Technology

 

The latest wave of Windows 8 ultrabooks blend keyboards, mice, and touchscreen gestures into a (theoretically) broadloomexperience. But even with touch as an input option,availablenessremains an issue for people with limited mobility, or those who fend forfrom long-term repetitive stress injuries.

A prototype ultrabook from Tobii and Synaptics shows what the solution to those problems looks like: a notebook that uses a built-in eye-tracking system to register input, as well as a pressure-sensitive touchpad that lavatoryregister gestures more(prenominal)precisely and in three dimensions.

I’ve personally checked awayTobii’s eye-tracking technology at CES the past few years. It’s evolved from something experimental andto a greater extentor lessgimmicky into a useful and intuitive tool. I tried divulgethe developer edition of Tobii’s eye-tracker on a Windows 8 machine at this year’s CES. The experience showed me how handy eye-based input apprisebe — I quickly jumped through onscreen tasks like selecting e-mails to open from a reheelor browsing through an array of photos onscreen. People with gnomishor no intentionof their own arms and manpowercan, with practice, use only their eyes to navigate through any(prenominal)number of digital experiences.

For those with some or full use of their hands, the pressure-sensitive touchpad opens up new input possibilities, too.

It can sense how cloggyyou’re pressing, and input can be measured innotjust two dimensions (x and y), but three (x and y and z). The applications to clearadvantage of this will likely need to be more customized than the eye-tracking tech, which can be adapted to work like a mouse or other pointer.

A lot of hype has centeraround voice dictation technology (Dragon Dictate is practicallya solution for those that currently suffer from wrist or hand ailments), but in an office setting or situation with a lot of noise, dictation is less optimal. You can use your eyes, or a touchpad, just about anywhere.

You can expect devices like the Tobii-Synaptics prototype to start hitting descentshelves sometime next year.

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Materials taken from WIRED