Communications of the ACM
The Future of Gadget Interaction
Many innovative technologies funded by the European Commission (EC) were spotlighted at the Science Beyond Fiction conference in Prague. The EC announced in April that it would boost its investment in user-device interaction from 100 million euros to 170 million euros by 2013. One of the technologies on display used gaze control, which has been used before now by Web advertisers to decide the optimal placement for ads. The system tracks a person's gaze and sharpens focus in an area of a video being watched by blurring the viewer's peripheral vision. In the future the entire image could be panned left or right as the gaze approaches the edge of the screen.
Interacting with software using the precise but unobtrusive eye tracking system has yet to be realized.
Starlab has developed a helmet device that can reportedly interpret brainwaves, and which has been on the market for six months. The helmet feeds back electromagnetic stimulation to relieve epileptic seizures or help with sleeping disorders. Another technology highlighted at the conference involves automotive software that adjusts itself to the driver's mood through a combination of sensors, cameras, and microphones.
From BBC News
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