It has always been important for people to know where their fellow humans are looking. From business deals to courting, people rely heavily on eye contact. We make important inferences about people's level of interest and state of mind based on observations of what they are doing with their eyes.

The Eyegaze Systems collect information about what people are doing with their eyes. And going one step further, the Eyegaze Systems can be used to actively direct the computer to perform tasks using those same eye motions.

CURRENT APPLICATIONS

USABILITY ANALYSIS

Eyetracking systems provide an approach for characterizing a computer user's ocular "behavior" in a way that supplements the measures of performance that can be derived from observations of overt behavior. Gaze parameters of interest for usability assessments that can be obtained from eyetracking systems include:

• The portion of time that the user spends looking at each region of a particular template (a named set of regions that constitute a given context) while it is active;

• The latency to look at a particular region of a template after it becomes available on the screen;

• The dwell time (i.e. duration of single looks) on particular regions of a particular template;

• The number of fixations for a given template (i.e. the number of times that the eyes change regions without the user calling up a new screen);

• Scan patterns (i.e. which regions of a particular template were viewed before or after other regions of that template or other templates);

• Longer term changes in pupil size (e.g. during a session);

• The frequency/duration of blinking over a specified period of time or when particular templates are active; and

• The latency to blink after a particular template becomes active;

Thus, the amount of time participants in a usability study spend looking at pre-defined regions on various screens, the sequence of their eye movements and pupil changes can be compared with participants' subjective comments about screen design.

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ADVERTISING AND MARKET RESEARCH

Market researchers want to know what attracts people's attention and whether it is good attention or annoyance. Advertisers want to know whether people are looking at the right things in their ads. The Eyegaze Systems provide tools to help answer these questions, for both print ads and video mediums.

• Longer term changes in pupil size (e.g. during a session);

• Retail outlets and supermarkets need to know what shelves and which products are catching the shoppers' attention.

• Print advertisers need to know what images or written words potential customers view while flipping through a magazine, how long they stay with an ad, and where their eyes progress.

• Market researchers need to know what packaging grabs attention.

• Web page designers need to know what attracts a viewer's attention and how viewers choose what page to view next, how long they stay on a page, and what they read.

• TV advertisers need to know which images grab the viewers' attention, and which are ignored.

• Corporations need to know whether viewers notice their logo.

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ENABLEMENT FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

A key application for eyetracking systems is to enable people with severe physical disabilities to do and experience things they otherwise could not.

With the Eyegaze System, people with physical disabilities can do many things with their eyes that they would otherwise do with their hands. Simply by looking at control keys displayed on a computer monitor screen, the user can perform a broad variety of functions including speech synthesis, environmental control (controlling lights, appliances, televisions, etc.), playing games, typing, and running most Windows-compatible software.

Eyetracking systems can enhance the quality of life of a disabled person, his family and his community by broadening his communication, entertainment, learning and productive capacities. Additionally, eyetracking systems have been demonstrated to be invaluable diagnostic tools in the administration of intelligence and psychological testing of individuals who are both physically impaired and nonverbal.

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MILITARY: WEAPONS CONTROL AND REMOTE ROBOTICS

The military sponsored much of the early research and development on eyetracking systems, and one of their primary objectives was to aid pilots in their weapons control. A pilot's hands are typically busy flying the plane, so the task of operating weapons systems at the same time can be quite difficult, particularly if flying in one direction and shooting in another. Eyetracking systems allow the pilots to observe and select targets with their eyes while flying the plane and firing the weapons with their hands.

The military is also sponsoring research with LC Technologies to integrate eyetracking into computer operations in heavy vehicles. It is difficult for tank crews to operate computers while traversing rough terrain. Eyetracking allows an operator to focus on screen icons and, coupled with voice commands, effectively operate computers under battle conditions.

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READING DIAGNOSTICS

Diagnosing reading disabilities has traditionally been very difficult, primarily because the diagnostician has no means for observing what a person is doing with his eyes as he reads. Eyetracking systems offer a tool for quantitatively measuring and recording what a person does with his eyes as he reads. The result is a hard-copy graphic representation of the trace of the person's gazepoint superimposed on the text he has read.

Potentially analogous to electrocardiograms or electroencephalograms, there are characteristic patterns of eye motion which are symptomatic of specific reading disabilities. And subsequent to diagnosis, eyetracking systems may prove useful in evaluating a person's progress through reading therapy.

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FUTURE APPLICATIONS

SIMULATORS AND OPERATOR TRAINING

It is potentially very useful to know what airplane pilots or control room operators are doing with their eyes. Good pilots, for example, develop efficient scan patterns where they routinely look at critical instruments and out the cockpit. Eyetracking systems monitoring student pilots' eyes in training simulators can help instructors determine whether the pilots are developing good scan patterns and whether they look at the right places when they get into certain situations such as landing or emergencies.

Similarly, airport traffic controllers should be aware of all traffic. Eyetracking can assure that each controller is routinely scanning his screen and not missing any aircraft.

VIDEO AND ARCADE GAMES

Identify the threat, acquire the target, move the scene right or left all with your eyes! Or place the bet, pull the handle, or deal yourself three cards.

The door is just opening on the potential for using eyetracking technology in a broad range of gaming venues. With Eyegaze, this is all possible with relatively easy integration of the current Eyegaze technology into arcade, video and games of chance. Players need no head gear or special equipment to bring games into the future. Game developers need only use their imagination to see how eyetracking technology will add an entire new dimension to their products.

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