Eye Control

Gaze-tracking technology is an important tool in many applications, notably the accessibility space. One particular area of interest is the use of gaze-tracking technology to allow people to control their computing devices. A common use-case is to use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) software to empower the user to speak. Beyond baseline speech, computing devices offer the opportunity to interact with others and environmental control. While there have been many advances and improvements in gaze-tracking based computer control, we have also found a variety of challenges in the proliferation of gaze-tracking as an accessibility technology, specifically its affordability, reliability, inter-operability and ease-of-use.

We believe this is an opportunity to improve what is available to consumers. By taking a broad view of the component parts of eye tracking – hardware, driver interface, API surface, AAC and computer control – we can find new ways to empower people who need gaze-tracking technology to achieve more. This work builds on many of our learnings from the Hands-Free Keyboard effort.

Our research collaboration with the Windows Input team has led to Eye Control for Windows. This AAC and computer control software has shipped free inside the Windows 10 operating system since October 2017 alongside other built-in accessibility features such as Narrator. The system leverages a new industry standard for gaze-tracking we pioneered with our industry partners such that the system is agnostic to the eye tracking hardware. Further, our system is specifically tuned towards a multi-function computing experience where users can move fluidly between speech and other computing tasks.

Vision

• Standardize eye tracking APIs
• Improve access to baseline AAC and computer control
• Investigate novel and improved solutions in AAC and computer control