The eyes have it Tobii Technology

THE EYES HAVE IT

The Swedish company Tobii Technology is the global market leader in eye tracking and eye control. The company’s eye tracking technology can be used for commercial and industrial purposes such as automotive safety and consumer research. Joseph Altham spoke to Henrik Eskilsson, Tobii’s CEO, to find out more.

WE use our eyes to observe what is going on around us. At the same time, the eyes are also ‘a mirror of the soul’. Our eyes not only enable us to perceive the world around us but are also a way for us to indicate our desires and intentions. This is the basic idea behind Tobii Technology. “Eye tracking,” as Mr Eskilsson explained, “can be used in two different ways. One is as a means to analyse human behaviour and to measure consumer responses. The other is to use the eye gaze as an input modality.”

The basis of eye tracking is corneal reflection. First, image sensors register a series of images of the eyes. These images are then processed in order to detect the exact position of the pupil, making it possible to calculate the point of gaze. In this way, eye tracking can show exactly what someone is looking at. Companies use eye tracking to monitor the way consumers interact with a website. When employed as a means of communication, Tobii’s eye tracking technology enables severely disabled people like stroke victims to express themselves. Those who have lost the use of their hands (and voice) can use their eyes to write by picking out letters on a screen to form words. Thanks to Tobii’s invention, people who might otherwise have been silenced have gained the chance to speak again.

Boosting sales

We are spending more and more of our lives on our computers, not only during office hours but also in our leisure time. Tobii’s eye tracking tests the usability of websites and

computer software. The movement of the eye over the screen is mapped to show where the user pays most attention. As a result it is possible to identify and correct problems in a website’s design, such as when important information is positioned in the wrong place on the webpage. As well as advertising their services on the web, many businesses maintain e-commerce sites and sell their products directly online. By optimising the web experience, Tobii’s eye tracking technology can have a crucial impact on conversion rates. In 2009, the Dutch consulting firm, Valsplat, employed Tobii’s eye tracking software to make KLM’s online booking tool easier to use. After the airline’s booking tool was redesigned, the number of users who moved on from merely searching for flights on the site to making a booking went up by 30 per cent.

Appearances count for a lot on the supermarket shelves as well as in the digital world, and consumer goods companies employ Tobii’s technology to improve the appearance of their packaging. “We are working in cooperation with Procter & Gamble, who have used our eye tracking solution to optimise the design of many of their packaging designs.” Integrated applications

Tobii sees great potential for eye tracking through its integration into other industrial processes and machines. “One interesting use of eye tracking is to ensure that an operator is paying sufficient attention. Eye tracking could be helpful in an industrial control room or in air traffic control. For commercial vehicles, we are currently developing solutions to monitor drivers’ safety.”

When installed in the cab of a lorry, an eye tracking system observes the movements of the driver’s eyelids and the direction of his gaze. In this way, the system will pick up signs of when the truck driver is becoming sleepy or his attention is wandering. The driver can therefore be warned of the danger before it is too late. Driver safety solutions can make a vital contribution in the energy sector and one partner Tobii is now working with is Six Safety Systems who is developing solutions for operator safety for mining vehicles. For computers, Tobii argues that as a control device, eye tracking represents an advance on the mouse. “Gaze interaction is faster and more intuitive. It is particularly valuable in professional software like computer-aided design. If you are photo editing, eye tracking offers you an easier way of zooming and panning images.”

$21 million investment

In 2011, Lenovo unveiled a prototype eyecontrolled laptop, built using Tobii’s technology. Eye-controlled laptop computers are a very promising opportunity for Tobii but are only one product where the company’s technology is likely to appear in the coming years. Another exciting area is medicine. In the operating theatre of a hospital, direct eye control means that a surgeon can examine a succession of different images on a screen without having to put down his instruments.

“As yet, eye tracking is a niche technology but in the future we believe there will be a much broader market for it. Tobii is actively looking for partners that are interested in integrating eye tracking into their products.” This year Tobii received a fresh investment of $21 million. “We need this investment for core technological development. Making our technology smaller and cheaper will allow it to reach a wider market.” n