Eye-Gaze Tracking in MMORPGS: Cool

by John Biggs on May 5, 2008

We tested some eye-tracking software like this at CeBIT this year but this takes the concept to a whole other level. It’s basically a system for tracking your gaze that has been retrofitted to work with WoW. Why? I guess it could let the handicapped or, sadly, the catastrophically lazy, play the game without having to touch a keyboard. My money is on the former and I’m actually kind of glad they’ll get a chance to play social games like these thanks to technology.

Comments

Farb Nivi - May 5th, 2008 at 10:56 am PDT

Sweet!

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david saintloth - May 5th, 2008 at 10:59 am PDT

What would be cool is a hybrid haptics system that combines eye tracking with verbal cues to entirely get rid of the mouse. If they could get the tracking accuracy up (it will necessarily vary with the position of the observers head with respect to the sensor) I could see it being more useful than just for playing games. Natural language software seems to have basically gone stale as far as software applications are concerned due to its still limited accuracy in being able to accurately render individual speech , but combining it with eye tracking could enhance the usefulness of some applications. You could keep your eyes on the keyboard while speaking occasional commands and using your eyes to track the mouse , essentially you turn your eyes into the navigational component of a mouse (traditionally the ball or laser over a surface) and your mouth replaces the buttons (for initiating selecting and deselection events) this focuses the need for accuracy only on the small set of words people use to define these events. “click” , “select”, “unclick”, “deselect” ..etc.

Anyone know if any such hybrid systems are in the works?

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Aaron Forgue - May 5th, 2008 at 11:01 am PDT

At some point, I think eye-tracking technology will be used to enhance the 3D effects of games. When our eyes focus on something, everything else becomes blurry. In game, the developers have to decide what it is we are focusing on, so the blur effect is not exactly right.

With eye tracking software, the developers will be able to blur all elements in-game that are not being gazed at, making the 3D effects much more immersive.

It’s a fun time to be alive!

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Greg - May 5th, 2008 at 11:39 am PDT

This would be sweet for aiming in a first-person shooter type game.

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Azhar - May 5th, 2008 at 11:54 am PDT

Maybe next all we have to do is think and we could play the game. We might not even have to move our eyes.

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Rich - May 5th, 2008 at 12:08 pm PDT

And if you actually do want to use your arms (or god forbid stand up) you have this method - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVFsxev-2sk

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kg - May 5th, 2008 at 12:58 pm PDT

- is it dangerous to eyes ?
- why cant the device be like a spectacle that you just wear it and play. It will be sooper cool. Also it might be able to eliminate the necessity of keeping the head in still position. The relative position of spectacle to the eye will always remain the same

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noel - May 5th, 2008 at 1:33 pm PDT

It would be great if the in-game character simply looked at whatever the player looked at. It could certainly help with the social aspect of games, especially if a players voice travelled in the direction they faced. Although it’s probably not worth a whole extra piece of hardware for that.

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Shai Berger - May 6th, 2008 at 10:36 am PDT

Video not working. Alternate link?

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Shai Berger - May 6th, 2008 at 11:02 am PDT

Never mind… link works now.

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jacksmith - May 28th, 2008 at 12:25 am PDT

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Has anyone used togetwow.com before?
I am considering buying wow gold from togetwow.com, are they a reliable site?
How can you rate their service?

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