It’s actually quite simple. No, really.
To understand the basics of how an eye tracker – well - tracks your eyes, let’s first break it down into parts. And yes, the sum is definitely greater than its parts.
A Tobii eye tracker is made up of:
Illuminators
Sensors
Algorithms
Now, picture yourself sitting in front of your Alienware 17 (with integrated Tobii Eye Tracker!) or monitor with a peripheral eye tracker, like the Tobii Eye Tracker 4C clipped to the bottom.
The eye tracker’s illuminators unobtrusively project near-infrared light onto your eyes, illuminating them and creating reflection patterns. This is completely safe and harmless.
Now that your eyes are illuminated, the sensors then snap high frame rate images of your eyes and the reflection patterns.
The image-processing algorithms then find specific details in your eyes and reflection patterns. Based on these details, the algorithms calculate the eyes’ position and gaze point on screen - like X and Y coordinates on a map.
Now your eye movement can be tracked, meaning your device knows where your eyes are fixed on the screen. Presto! You now have an extra input mode that compliments your mouse, keyboard and gamepad. Now you can get further immersed in eye tracking titles like Watch Dogs 2 and Steep.
Now that you have the basics of how it works, experience it for yourself to be really blown away.
Go to tobiigaming.com to learn more.