Eye Tracking: A Peek Into Where You Look

To better understand spatial computing, you need to take a closer look at eye tracking. Have you ever wondered if your computer or device could know exactly where you’re looking? It sounds like something out of a science fiction story, but it’s real and it’s called eye tracking. This amazing technology gives devices like Apple’s Vision Pro or selected HTC Vive headsets the power to understand what grabs your attention by simply watching your eyes. It’s like having a silent conversation with your gadgets, where they can respond to your gaze without you saying a word.

Now, let’s dive a bit deeper into how eye tracking works, and explore an exciting twist: how using multiple cameras can make this technology even more incredible. Imagine the possibilities when your devices not only understand where you’re looking but can do so with amazing accuracy, making your interaction with technology smoother, more intuitive, and a lot more fun.

How Eye Tracking Works

Eye tracking might seem like magic, but it’s really just smart science and some clever gadgets. Let’s explore how it works in simple steps:

1. The Eye Tracking Camera Team

Imagine you’re taking a selfie with your phone. Now, instead of one phone, you have a few cameras all trying to take a picture of your eyes. These aren’t regular cameras; they’re special because they can see details about your eyes that help the computer understand where you’re looking.

2. The Invisible Flashlight

These cameras use a special light that you can’t see (it’s safe, don’t worry!). This light makes it easier for the cameras to see your eyes clearly, especially the black part in the middle (your pupil) and the white part around it.

3. Snap, Snap, Snap!

The cameras take lots of quick pictures of your eyes. They’re looking to see which way your pupils are pointing. It’s like they’re trying to catch every blink and glance.

4. The Brainy Computer

After the cameras take the pictures, a computer acts like a detective. It looks at the pictures and uses math to figure out exactly where on the screen you’re looking. It’s really good at this game and can guess right almost every time! Dalvin Brown from Wall Street Journal has a great video investigating eye tracking that you can check out below.

Eye tracking also enables a headset to use another cool tech called foveated rendering. Simply put, since it knows exactly where you’re looking it can do a better an more efficient job drawing the screen.

Why More Cameras Make Eye Tracking Better

Using more than one camera for eye tracking is like having more clues to solve a mystery. Here’s why it helps:

1. More Angles

With more cameras, the system can see your eyes from different sides. This is helpful because sometimes your eye might be partly closed or covered by eyelashes. More cameras mean a better chance of getting a clear view.

2. More Details

Each camera can catch different details about your eyes. When all these details are put together, the computer has a much clearer picture of where you’re looking. It’s like putting together a puzzle; more pieces make the picture clearer.

3. Less Guessing Makes Better Eye Tracking

With just one camera, sometimes the system has to guess where you’re looking, and it might not always be right. But with more cameras, there’s less guessing because the system has more information. This means it can be more accurate and make fewer mistakes.

Vision Pro takes things even further with a total of four cameras – two for each eye. Additionally, the headset uses a number of infra-red LED’s to project a grid on the user’s eyes, which makes it easier for the cameras to detect every little movement. In the picture below, you can see the four round cameras located inside and below each eye. You can also see all the tiny dots that represent the infrared LED’s. That is a lot of coverage!

Conclusion

Eye tracking is like a game where your device tries to follow your gaze, and having more cameras makes the game even better. It’s exciting to think about how this helps make games more interactive, helps people who might have trouble using their hands, and even makes learning more fun by seeing what catches your eye. Eye tracking is a cool peek into the future, showing us how technology can get better at understanding us, just by watching where we look!

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