Eye Gaze Interaction with Virtual Worlds
From NewScientistTech (Web Link).
I’m very much experiencing blogging guilt at the moment. I have a huge list of things to blog about but haven’t had the time recently. Anyway here’s something that caught my eye.
De Montfort University has developed a system which tracks the movemnent of the users eyes and allows them to selct fucntions by gazing at them. The film below shows the software in use during a session on the World of Warcraft (what’s known as a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, or MMORPG). The film below shows the user being able to move his avatar around, exploring the environment and interacting with objects on the screen without having to use any motor skills.
This goes some way to addressing accessibility issues associated with using virtual worlds, such as Second Life, in teaching and learning.
“Enabling someone to express themselves and engage with people in ways that they can’t do in real life – because they are restricted to a wheelchair or a bed – can have a really positive effect on their self-esteem and motivation,” says Donegan.”
Fantastic stuff.
