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If you're interested in eye-tracking, I'm interested in funding you

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Re: If you're interested in eye-tracking, I'm interested in funding you

#101
post #88
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to work on it and have spent tons of time in the headset. The eye tracking is next-level and it's really the only platform that exists with eye tracking as a primary input method. I'm pretty confident it will greatly improve your friend's quality of life. Because of that, I'm also sure that eye tracking will go mainstream in other areas once the Vision Pro is released once everyone else catches on to it as a g…

Doesn't it rely on external cameras to see users hands and use that as the "click" inputs? Seems like that negates usage for ALS cases. Also, I'm not an ALS expert, but if the only muscular control is in the eyes, then lack of control in the head/neck probably breaks some assumptions about how the vision headset works (just a guess though).

It does not require using one's hands to click, it supports various input hardware (keyboard, mouse, switch, etc.). If someone has control of basically any muscle, it can use a switch input. The Vision Pro also has Dwell Control, activating things by keeping your gaze on it long enough, but I don't know whether it can currently be solely operated using nothing but one's eyes.

Re: If you're interested in eye-tracking, I'm interested in funding you

#102

I agree, eye tracking is going to have really broad applications. I've been interested in eye tracking for over a decade, and in fact built my own eye tracker, joined a startup, and got acquired by Google[1]. But there's way more to do. We've barely scratched the surface of what's possible with eye tracking and I'd love to take a second crack at it. [1] https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/24/google-buys-eyefluence-eye...

What happened to the tech after acquisition?

Re: If you're interested in eye-tracking, I'm interested in funding you

#103

EEG recording is an alternative that would outlast the potential disease-related degradation of eye movements. Manny Donchin gave a brown bag at UIUC about the possibilities of using this approach to support communication by ALS patients many years ago. It's clever: they use the P300 marker to index attention/intention. I do not recall whether he and his colleagues ever commercialized the tech. I believe that this pu…

I did a PhD in brain-computer interfaces, including EEG and implanted electrodes. BCI research to a big extent focuses on helping paralyzed individuals regain communication.

Unfortunately, EEG (including P300) doesn’t provide sufficient signal-to-noise ratio to support good communication speeds outside of the lab with Faraday cages and days/weeks of de-noising including removing eye-movement artifacts in the recordings. This is a physical limit due to attenuation of brain’s electrical fields outside of the skull, which is hard to overcome. For example, all commercial “mind-reading” toys are actually working based off head and eye muscle signals.

Implanted electrodes provide better signal but are many iterations away from becoming viable commercially. Signal degrades over months as the brain builds scar tissue around electrodes and the brain surgery is obviously pretty dangerous. Iteration cycles are very slow because of the need for government approval for testing in humans (for a good reason).

If I wanted to help a paralyzed friend, who could only move his/her eyes, I would definitely focus on the eye-tracking tech. It hands-down beat all BCIs I’ve heard of.

Re: If you're interested in eye-tracking, I'm interested in funding you

#104
My three partners and I have be developing and selling multi-camera arrays specifically for eye tracking as well as measuring other physiological features for several years now. Our main customers are a couple university research groups, a human factors group in Lockheed, and just recently the US Air Force. In fact we just returned from a trip to Wright-Patterson installing an array in a hypobaric chamber to perform gaze tracker and pupil response for pilots under hypoxic conditions. Phase two will be a custom gaze tracker for their centrifuge. Our main features are accurate eye and face tracking up to a meter from the array, minimal calibration per subject (about 10 seconds staring at a dot), pupil response for measuring fatigue and other things, plus we can adapt the array for the client ranging from a cockpit to a large flat screen TV. We've looked into medical usage such as ALS, but we're bootstrapped based in Iowa and found the military niche as a more direct way to generate cash flow. It's ashame we can't apply this work towards people with medical needs, but we don't have the funds nor the clients to make such a pivot.

Re: If you're interested in eye-tracking, I'm interested in funding you

#105
post #47
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not available yet. And in any case if this is the future there should be multiple companies doing it, not just Apple.

I used to work on it and have spent tons of time in the headset. The eye tracking is next-level and it's really the only platform that exists with eye tracking as a primary input method. I'm pretty confident it will greatly improve your friend's quality of life. Because of that, I'm also sure that eye tracking will go mainstream in other areas once the Vision Pro is released once everyone else catches on to it as a g…

The level of eye tracking performance for general population interactions is really only possible when you control the illumination like in a VR headset. A Vision Pro might work for the friend in question. More generally this requires the full vr display to make it work. See through AR or just plane glasses will not be nearly as good, and I think that will cap the general acceptance.

Re: If you're interested in eye-tracking, I'm interested in funding you

#106

I do hardware. I do software. I do computer vision. I built some software that ran on a cellphone used by LEO (law enforcement officers) to determine if the person they are quizzing is inebriated or impaired through controlled substances by examining the person's eyes and having them focus on images displayed on the phone screen. I've done eye tracking using fully custom solutions and also through a few of the off-th…

Yes, UX is the key. The iPhone succeeded because they didn't just take macOS's mouse/keyboard UI and slap it under a touchscreen. They took the limitations and strengths of capacitive touch and designed a bespoke UX with new concepts everywhere.

Input modalities define platforms. Eye tracking is a new input modality and will define a new platform. It needs a whole new UX designed around its limitations and strengths. It needs a keyboard, it needs a browser, it needs copy and paste, it needs an app switcher, it needs a whole vocabulary of standard interactions and best practices. Apple has a good start in Vision Pro but they're not going to be the only ones doing UX for eye tracking. There's definitely room for other players with fresh ideas.

Re: If you're interested in eye-tracking, I'm interested in funding you

#109
post #102

I agree, eye tracking is going to have really broad applications. I've been interested in eye tracking for over a decade, and in fact built my own eye tracker, joined a startup, and got acquired by Google[1]. But there's way more to do. We've barely scratched the surface of what's possible with eye tracking and I'd love to take a second crack at it. [1] https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/24/google-buys-eyefluence-eye...

What happened to the tech after acquisition?

The "Daydream View" VR headset developed before we were acquired totally bombed. Then a bunch of VR tech, including both long running internal projects and recent acquisitions, got shelved.

Re: If you're interested in eye-tracking, I'm interested in funding you

#110
post #108

Tobii have been doing eye-tracking since 2001 and have a product for that. https://www.tobiidynavox.com/

But that's not in California so it doesn't matter. (/s)

You were being facetious, but Swedes are used to being flexible with collaborations. I don't why I'm playing the ambassador, I don't work there.
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