“Windows 10’s Eye Control feature is currently in its beta phase, with Microsoft welcoming feedback from members of its Windows Insider program.”
Windows 10 users could soon have the ability to type and move their mouse pointers using only their eyes, thanks to a new feature called Eye Control.
The feature could be a significant aide to individuals living with diseases and conditions limiting their mobility, such as ALS. And in fact in some ways it’s the product of a request from an individual with ALS, former NFL player Steve Gleason. As a post on the Microsoft Accessibility Blog explains, in 2014 Gleason sent an email ahead of Microsoft’s first hackathon, challenging employees to come up with solutions to the mobility issues experience by individuals with ALS. The grand prize winner of the hackathon ended up being a project responding to that challenge, which was designed to let users move their wheelchairs just by looking at controls on a screen; and in turn that solution inspired the creation of a research team that could would further explore how eye-tracking technology could be used for accessibility purposes.
Windows 10’s Eye Control feature is currently in its beta phase, with Microsoft welcoming feedback from members of its Windows Insider program. It requires the use of peripheral eye tracking hardware such as Tobii IS3 products, which are designed not just to track users’ eyes but to enable facial recognition through Windows Hello, the biometric authentication system built into Windows 10.
Source: Microsoft Accessibility Blog
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