[HIGHLIGHTS] EYES FOR INTERACTION

Gaze holds great promise as an input modality because it indicates what our visual attention is directed at. It is particularly promising to interact with the increasing number of out-of-reach displays because our eyes naturally point at what we are interested in. As a result, eye tracking has attracted increasing interest for interaction. For example, Stellmach and Dachselt researched the use of the eyes to pan and zoom on maps [4] and Turner et al. looked into using the eyes to select out-of-reach content on a display and move the content to a personal handheld device [5]. However, the real-world implementation of eye-based interfaces poses signifi cant challenges. Most current interfaces require to calibrate the eye-tracker for each user Although gaze is an attractive modality for pervasive interaction, real-world implementation of eye-based interfaces poses signifi cant challenges. In particular, user calibration is tedious and time consuming. Pursuits is an innovative interaction technique that enables truly spontaneous interaction with eye-based interfaces. A user can simply walk up to the screen and readily interact with moving targets. Instead of being based on gaze location, Pursuits correlates eye pursuit movements with objects dynamically moving on the interface. to know where their gaze is located. Th e calibration calculates a mapping between the user’s eye position and corresponding 2D positions in the user’s visual scene, e.g. on a screen. During calibration the user should stand still and fi xate on several points on the screen. Th is process can be cumbersome and straining for the eyes and makes spontaneous eye-based interaction in everyday environments challenging. Th is is especially the case for public settings, in which passersby may not be willing to spend time calibrating the eye tracker before being able to use the interface. Th e method we developed, Pursuits, enables users to walk up to a display and immediately interact with it in an engaging way. It gets rid of the calibration procedure and is based on natural eye movements, which means users do not need to learn how to use it – the interaction feels instant and seamless