Looking to interact

Tom Shelley reports on an eyeball tracking device of low enough cost to be used in games which does not use lasers A Korean company has developed a chip based sensor system that can tell what somebody is looking it. With the right software and interface, it is possible to control machines merely by looking at them, whether they be military targeting systems, bank ATMs, PCs equipped for the severely disabled, or video games. The Eye Ball Sensor has been developed by the Miru Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. It works by forming an image of the front of the eye on a chip, illuminating the eye with a low powered infra red LED if necessary. The rest of the system then calculates the position of the centre of the pupil in real time, forming an image of the front of the eye on a chip. The device is currently at the demonstration and application development stage, so although a number of devices and systems have been made, final production designs have not yet been firmed up. According to Miru, a demonstration unit will be ready by August this year. Used in an ATM machine, it envisages walking up to the machine, then looking through some kind of frame or aperture at a small screen. As the user moves the eye from number to number, they would light up and the user could press 'enter' as appropriate. This would prevent any possibility of anyone deducing a PIN number by observing hand keystrokes. Equipped with a suitable head mounted device, users can interact with a virtual world for simulated military training purposes or simply to play games. Alternatively, they could select targets in a real military situation merely by looking at them. For the severely disabled, it allows interaction with a PC without effort. In a development system, an icon is automatically selected if the user stares at it for more than half a second. To select the right mouse button, the user blinks the right eye. The device can also be made to control an electric wheelchair. The technology is presently being marketed outside Korea through an office in Virginia, USA. 'Miru' means 'Dragons' in Korean. Miru US office Miru Korean office Pointers * Device uses a single chip to analyse the image of the front of the eye to detect the position of the pupil and deduce what the user is looking at * It can be used either with an external screen or with a head mounted device equipped with an eye sized display * Applications have been identified in simulation, secure operation of bank ATMs, PC interfaces for the disabled and military systems