Late last month the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Samsung revealing an invention regarding the use of "Gaze Interactions," to control certain functions of future devices such as smartphones, tablets and Televisions. While Samsung first introduced a part of their technology with their Galaxy S4 last year, Samsung's patent shows us that they could extend this technology in mobile devices through to future Smart TVs and the desktop.
Samsung Invents a Method for Gaze Controls
Apple already has a couple of gaze control patent pending inventions on record (one, two) as do others like Sony and Google where their respective technologies cross over to include eye-tracking technology. Yet it was Samsung that first brought this technology to market last year beating out their competitors.
Samsung's patent FIG. 3 we're able to see their gazing technology working with a smartphone.
As a detailed example, a user may perform a search for content BB, subsequent to connecting to a hypothetical website AAA, using the smartphone. The smartphone may display a search result page. Here, when loading of the search result page is delayed, a spiral icon 331 may be displayed on the display along with text indicating "loading". In this instance, the user may naturally or reflexively gaze at the spiral icon. Transitively, the method for the user interface using the gaze interaction may use the spiral icon as a calibration point, and thereby more precisely estimate the gaze position of the user.
A smartphone may display a search result page, subsequent to the loading, and the user may adjust an interface of the smartphone using a gaze adjustment function.
More particularly, the user may gaze at toggle areas 371 through 374 in a sequential manner of "the first toggle area 371-the second toggle area 372-the fourth toggle area 374-the third toggle area 373" for more than a second, respectively, based on a predetermined time, for example, a second, and a predetermined pattern. Transitively, the method for the user interface using the gaze interaction may set the gaze adjustment function to be on an activation mode.
When the gaze adjustment function is on the activation mode, and the user gazes at a bottom portion of the display, the method for the user interface using the gaze interaction may slowly scroll down a search result page displayed based on a predetermined rule. Alternatively, a predetermined area at which the user gazes may be selected based on the predetermined rule.
Samsung introduced the technology in part with the Galaxy S4. TechRadar reviewed this feature last year and thought it was relatively useless at this point in time.
In Round One, Samsung Missed the Mark
TechRadar's review of Samsung's gaze control feature last year noted that "because the feature isn't perfect, we can't say it's a useful way to navigate around the screen. It's cool that you can choose to either make the screen scroll using your head or tilting the screen, and then you can select the speed of the scrolling too.
You can also decide whether to have the annoying eye icon pop up on the screen to alert you that the Smart Scroll function is working. So while it doesn't really work every time and sometimes messes up, it's cool to have - although we still have the issue of using your finger being a more useful way of scrolling around a screen.
With something like Smart Scroll it has to be flawless to be considered a useful part of life, and would have mitigated the issues we found with the actual need for it. But as it's slightly buggy and dependent on a number of factors (such as lighting conditions) we just found that after a few days it got turned off - and we fear that's the way it would stay for most for the next two years."
So while Samsung may have rushed this feature to be able to have bragging rights to being first with it to market, the feature appears to be rather obtuse in its current form: a real yawner.
Future Feature: Lock and Unlock your Device via Gaze Controls
In the future, Samsung may add new functions for gaze controls regarding locking and unlocking your devices, according to their patent filing. Samsung notes that "As another example, when the mobile device is in a lock status, the method for the user interface using the gaze interaction may unlock the lock status of the mobile device using a gaze interaction.
More particularly, when the mobile device is in the lock status, the user may gaze at the four toggle areas (noted in FIG 3 above), respectively, based on a predetermined period of time and a predetermined pattern. When a gaze position is determined to match the four toggle areas, the method for the user interface using the gaze interaction may unlock the lock status of the mobile device.
As still another example, when the mobile device is in an unlock status, the method for the user interface using the gaze interaction may lock the unlock status of the mobile device using a gaze interaction.
More particularly, when the mobile device is in the unlock status the user may gaze at the four toggle areas, respectively, based on a predetermined period of time and a predetermined pattern. When a gaze position is determined to match the four toggle areas, the method for the user interface using the gaze interaction may lock the unlock status of the mobile device. Although four toggle areas have been used in the preceding example, any quantity or pattern of toggle areas may alternatively be used. A larger quantity of toggle areas, for example, may be used to increase security of the lock status."
Future use of Gaze Controls for Television & Desktop
Samsung also notes that their gaze technology may apply to future TVs and computer monitors. Samsung provides no meaningful examples as how it would be used for a TV.
In respect to a computer display, beyond auto-scrolling they make a big leap by stating that "the user may use a function associated with copying, pasting, and the like, of a web page, using the gaze adjustment area. In another embodiment, a user may switch between applications" when you using gaze controls.
While I don't think using eye gazing controls will ever beat mouse or touch control speeds, it could be a helpful tool for physically handicapped individuals – though the patent application never makes that connection.
Samsung filed their US patent application back in Q1 2014 and one year earlier in Korea. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of the lock and unlock or other aspects of this gaze related patent application to market is unknown at this time.
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