The first experience of a new technology can create such a strong impression that we often vividly recall the moment. I have a very clear memory from the late 1980s when I first used a Macintosh computer mouse. The departure from text editors and complex keystrokes banged out on dumb terminals to Apple’s user-friendly interface and clickable mouse buttons was like riding to work on a horse-and-cart one day and driving a sports car the next. Yet, at the time, I don’t think we fully appreciated the impact this new input mechanism would have in accelerating the adoption of computing in the home and the workplace.
While each person’s list of great tech is individual, some are shared. I believe that eye tracking, like the computer mouse, belongs to the latter. When people experience eye tracking for the first time, it creates a sense of wonder that lasts well beyond the initial encounter. It sparks the imagination, and a chain-reaction of questions like how can I use it? Can I fit it into something I’m working on? How do I get started?
You can use eye tracking as an input mechanism to control a device, or you can leverage the data it generates to solve a problem. When we work with customers and partners, a special kind of magic starts to take place. And that’s because each customer has an intimate understanding of their specific industry, the problems that need to be solved, and how eye tracking might solve them.
Because even if Tobii is the leader in eye tracking, it’s our customers who put the technology to work. They have the unique ideas and innovative applications that can deliver solutions that make a difference.
It’s not possible to share all innovations we have come across over the years, mainly because there are too many, but more importantly, because I am not the expert — you are. Hopefully, you are already imagining how eye tracking might fit your product. But here are a few of my favorite examples…
But as with all innovation, the validity of an idea is not always apparent at the outset. There is no guarantee that it will work until you’ve tried it — and this is often the case for eye tracking.
And that’s why we designed the Tobii Concept Validation Tool — plug-and-play eye tracking — to help you get to that point without having to do any application development.
Before you can use the tool, however, you need an eye tracker. If you already have one, you can download the tool directly. If not, the simplest approach is to purchase a USB peripheral, and I recommend you opt for our most recent model, the Tobii Eye Tracker 5 — which comes with additional treats for gamers.
Our USB peripherals interface with other devices through a USB port. As soon as you connect your eye tracker, the Tobii Experience App will start and help you to configure it (it takes a few seconds and is a fun experience in itself).
The final step is to download the Concept Validation Tool from our website, giving you instant access to our eye tracking demo that includes features such as:
As the experts in your domain, you are uniquely positioned to expand the field of application of eye tracking — and we’d love to hear about your ideas.