I am a firm believer in the less is more theory, but I probably dont mean it like you think. I believe that the less I HAVE to do the MORE time I have to do all the other stuff I want… I really enjoy gadgets that do things for me. I am waiting in breathless anticipation for the washing machine that will iron my clothes and a self cleaning refrigerator. Yup, my favorite gadgets are those that help me do less, and now that Tobii Technology has teamed up with Lenovo and come up with a laptop that doesnt require you to use a mouse – or a keyboard, well, lets just say the future looks bright.To use the Lenovo laptop you just need your eyes. The process seems relatively user friendly, you simply sit in front of it and after a thirty second calibration test that consists primarily of following several dots around with your eyes you’re done, and the laptop will go through the paces that your peepers suggest, look at an icon,voila! information about that icon. If you are reading, the text scrolls as needed. It’s an unencumbered way to interact with your laptop, and one that could be ready for consumer applications in as little as 2 or 3 years.
Tobii’s new method of input and its accompanying software can be used in any number of ways, from taking over cursor control from the mouse, letting you move the cursor with your eyes to tracking gaze points, where gazing at an image for a few seconds brings it to the forefront and in a slideshow format, you can pan through images by looking from right to left. How very Mission Impossible!
While it might be a while before we can actually get our hands on technology like this, it sure sounds like fun, how practical will it be? That remains to be seen… I do see some amazing gaming possibilites and some strong usefullness to differently abled folks who might not otherwise be able to use a keyboard. I dont know why I’m so impressed, I can get my 8 year old to do almost anything just by the way I look at her…
Source: www.tobii.com
