iPad Pro Eye-Tracking as a viable and logic alternative to mouse support (poll)

[Mousesuck]

There is an obvious need for a form of high speed precision input on the iPad Pro, even If personally I don't have that necessity, I won't deny that fact.

That being said, I don't think the mouse is the right answer for this problem, that would be a step backwards in my opinion.

The answer is eye-tracking, you won't need another peripheral you just need the front facing camera and just by looking you could easily select the orthographic mistake you need to correct without even having to take your hands from the keyboard (or the iPad) you could select the excel cell you need to change...you could do everything you want to do with the mouse but in a better way.

It would be simpler, faster, lighter and more productive.

Ultimately, the iPad Pro needs to grow outside the constrains of past computational designs, so that It can replace your laptop instead of turning into a dysfunctional one.

EDIT 1: For the purpose of fairness, 35 minute after the start of the pool (with 4 votes) I created a fourth option.

EDIT 2: There is an Apple patent from 2015 discribing exactly this. Eventually it will roll.

http://iphone.appleinsider.com/arti...ye-tracking-gaze-controls-for-ios-mac-devices

EDIT 3: 26/06/2017 Apple made a huge acquisition, sensomotoric, the leaders in the field of eye tracking.

Although this purchase was fundamentaly driven after the needs of Mixed reality (augmented reality), the purpose of said technology is exactly the same, an input method (not foveated rendering, which is important in VR where you have to render entire worlds, in AR you render objects) so It wouldn’t be farfetched to think It could eventually make Its way to the IPad Pro also as an input method.

https://www.Macrumors.com/2017/06/26/apple-acquires-sensomotoric-instruments/

 

[Ipadlover29]

Did you mean "poll" instead of "pool"? or were you referring to going swimming?

 

[Mousesuck]

Did you mean "poll" instead of "pool"? or were you referring to going swimming?

I did, thanks

 

[mrklaw]

While I don't agree that a nouse is necessarily a throwback, or that we should progress with technology just for the sake of it, I still voted for eye tracking

Partly that's because I like the idea if implemented well (although how would iOS know you want to interact vs just looking?)

Partly because your mouse option is loaded so I can't reasonably vote for it.

If you had a 'mouse because it's a good, well understood and efficient tool for certain types of interactions' I'd have voted for that one

 

[Mousesuck]

Partly because your mouse option is loaded so I can't reasonably vote for it.

You are right but unfortunately I can't change that now...

 

[Steve686]

But....

 

[Mousesuck]

View attachment 704968 But....

the same argument can be made about the mouse, unfortunately there arent enough hands for the mouse and keyboard if you just have one.

 

[Steve686]

the same argument can be made about the mouse, unfortunately there arent enough hands for the mouse and keyboard if you just have one.

Prosthetics..... http://bebionic.com/the_hand/grip_patterns/open_palm_grip

 

[DGGoingUphill]

Having done research on command and control with the eyes, I can say you don't want it unless it's for very brief periods of time on very precise work. Our eyes aren't built for this task -- your eyes are constantly darting about, even though it doesn't feel like it. It can be very exhausting and painful to try and use your eyes to point. In assistive technology, eye tracking is used as a last resort.

 

[Mousesuck]

Having done research on command and control with the eyes, I can say you don't want it unless it's for very brief periods of time on very precise work

I've never really used eye tracking so I can't really agree or disagree with your experience.

What I can say is that this is a method of input that in the last two years evolved like hell, since It has huge applications on Mixed reality(augmented reality, which Apple is indeed working on) and virtual reality for the exact same porpuse of interaction.

When I talk about eye tracking on the IPad Pro, I'm not talking about using It as the main form of input, for that you have the touch screen or even the Apple Pencil...I'm talking about using it for the things that touch screens are not ideal, like selection of small text with our big fingers all without losing the main caracteristic of portability and simplicity that this device represents.

On another note, we are not talking about moving a cursor by looking left or right or up and down (like a joystick), we are talking about the cursor being your eyes, the IPad knowing exactly to which point of the screen you are looking at.

I don't believe that to be tiring but If It is then It is not a problem with the technology in itself but with the early stage It is on.

It is agood idea I'm sure Apple could and eventually will pull this of.

 

[Mousesuck]

They have a patent, although that doesn't mean a lot.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...ye-tracking-gaze-controls-for-ios-mac-devices

 

[Mousesuck]

Trying to mantain the fire
[doublepost=1498089978]

 

[Mousesuck]

Having done research on command and control with the eyes, I can say you don't want it unless it's for very brief periods of time on very precise work. Our eyes aren't built for this task -- your eyes are constantly darting about, even though it doesn't feel like it. It can be very exhausting and painful to try and use your eyes to point. In assistive technology, eye tracking is used as a last resort.

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/06/26/apple-acquires-sensomotoric-instruments/

3 days ago, Apple did buy the eye tracking company SensoMotoric, which was a gigantic acquisition.

Although this is mainly related to augmented reality needs It serves the same purpose in augmented reality and wouldn’t be farfetched to think It could eventually be applied as an input method in the Ipad Pros.

 

[kasakka]

I don't see eye tracking working well. You tend to constantly shift your gaze or have it wander. I feel it would take too much effort to focus and would be ultimately tiring to use.

 

[Mousesuck]

I don't see eye tracking working well. You tend to constantly shift your gaze or have it wander. I feel it would take too much effort to focus and would be ultimately tiring to use.

Thank you for your answer.

Well this is all hypothetical, If It doesn’t work It would obviously never be implemented so the poll was created in the basis that It would work flawlessly.

Although there are just a few votes you can clearly see a trend here.
Most voters are too stuck in there mouse workflow that they can’t even consider another options, that with time will eventually and inevitably pop into existence.

I mean whatever the future brings, With 100% certainty that in 10 years computers will change more than they changed till now.

But no, in there perspective there grandkids will still use mouses...

 

[Act3]

Most voters are too stuck in there mouse workflow that they can’t even consider another options,

Cause it works and works well, no need to change it. Brand new state of the art billion dollar power plants are ran with mouse clicks.

 

[Mousesuck]

Cause it works and works well, no need to change it. Brand new state of the art billion dollar power plants are ran with mouse clicks.

Do you want to know what also worked really well?

Horses and carriages, racism, the radio, the cell phone, television, physical money, windows 99, CDs, fossil fuel and postal service.

The world changes, failing to grasp that inevitability Is being narrow minded, failing to embrace It is being of old spirit.

Would you expect that your just inaugurated state of art power plant would still be a state of art powerplant after 20 years, If they didn’t change everything about the innerworkings of the operation?

No, in 20 years that state of art multimillion dollar powerplant would be just that...one more Powerplant.

The world is going in a direction where screens are going to be replaced by glasses, artificial inteligence is going to be able to replace us on our jobs, our cars are going to drive by them selfs and you can even see virtual reality porn.

But the mouse...the mouse is forever.
For godsake...
that idea is so outrageous that made me create an account on macrumors after years of lurking.

 

[Act3]

Do you want to know what also worked really well?

Horses and carriages, racism, the radio, the cell phone, television, physical money, windows 99, CDs, fossil fuel and postal service.

The world changes, failing to grasp that inevitability Is being narrow minded, failing to embrace It is being of old spirit.

Would you expect that your just inaugurated state of art power plant would still be a state of art powerplant after 20 years, If they didn’t change everything about the innerworkings of the operation?

No, in 20 years that state of art multimillion dollar powerplant would be just that...one more Powerplant.

The world is going in a direction where screens are going to be replaced by glasses, artificial inteligence is going to be able to replace us on our jobs, our cars are going to drive by them selfs and you can even see virtual reality porn.

But the mouse...the mouse is forever.
For godsake...

it just works..... its been around for 50 plus years and is not going away ... speaking of narrow minded, one could argue that not including mouse support or seeing where it would be beneficial is narrow minded.

lets get rid of speakers while we are at it and just tap right into the auditory nerve

eye tracking been around for over 3 years now on android, it hasn't taken off.

 

[Mousesuck]

it just works..... its been around for 50 plus years and is not going away ... speaking of narrow minded, one could argue that not including mouse support or seeing where it would be beneficial is narrow minded.

lets get rid of speakers while we are at it and just tap right into the auditory nerve

Sure they can give the option to have mouse support but if they did that, then people wouldn’t be having this conversations would they? If you don’t see something as a problem, there is no necessity for improvement and If you see something as a problem you shouldn’t implement it.

Only that way, can better solutions be found and old engrained ones purged.
The midle ground will always result in compromise, like an electrical car that also runs on gasoil.

Now the mouse is a problem because like you said, it is a old solution. Fortunately, in this world nothing is perfect and everything can be improved and rethinked.

In relation to the little joke you made about being tapped...

I can assure you that eventually your auditory nerve will be taped, your physical body will be one with your digital self and the internet will permeate throught your brain connections melting the constrains of perception, reality and existance.
Then, in the mist of a god like knowledge, while our species starts to think like a single organism, we all look at our right hand and we finally understand we are holding a mouse...

 

[throAU]

I can see eye tracking working if you were to have say, a hot corner or area of the screen (or key on the keyboard) to hold for it to be "on".

And off at all other times.


That said, as per some of my other recent iPad related posts. AR is coming and the whole desktop paradigm is going to eventually go away. Apple aren't building the iPad for desktop style apps, they're building it for the next generation.

If you're wanting a primarily portable desktop application style machine, you should buy a MacBook of some description.

 

[Act3]

Sure they can give the option to have mouse support but if they did that, then people wouldn’t be having this conversations would they? If you don’t see something as a problem, then there is no necessity for improvement If you don’t see something as a problem and If you see something as a problem you shouldn’t implement it.

Only that way, can better solutions be found and old engrained ones purged.
The midle ground will always result in compromise, like an electrical car that also runs on gasoil.

In relation to the little joke you made about being tapped...

I can assure you that eventually your auditory nerve will be taped, your physical body will be one with your digital self and the internet will permeate throught your brain connections melting the constrains of perception, reality and existance.
Then, in the mist of a god like knowledge, while our species starts to think like a single organism, we all look at our right hand and we finally understand we are holding a mouse...

interesting but who sees using a mouse as a problem? or driving a car for themselves for that matter. We are dumbing down humans and eventually machines will take over.

 

[throAU]

interesting but who sees using a mouse as a problem? or driving a car for themselves for that matter. We are dumbing down humans and eventually machines will take over.

You can't use a mouse without a mousing surface.

Why complain about technology advances? Providing an alternative that works in different situations is not "dumbing down humans".

The UI should be seamless. Driving a mouse does not make you 'leet.

 

[Act3]

You can't use a mouse without a mousing surface.

Why complain about technology advances? Providing an alternative that works in different situations is not "dumbing down humans".

The UI should be seamless. Driving a mouse does not make you 'leet.

Mainly because alot of these so called technology advances are just sales gimmicks. I rarely use 3D Touch on my phone. Don't even miss it when switching to my iPad. 3D television another example. Apple Pay is another gimmick in my opinion.

Think about if all of sudden the entire power grid or even just internet for that matter went down for more than a few days. We would then see how "dumb down" we've gotten over the years.

 

[Mousesuck]

Mainly because alot of these so called technology advances are just sales gimmicks. I rarely use 3D Touch on my phone. Don't even miss it when switching to my iPad. 3D television another example. Apple Pay is another gimmick in my opinion.

Think about if all of sudden the entire power grid or even just internet for that matter went down for more than a few days. We would then see how "dumb down" we've gotten over the years.

The thing is that features like 3D Touch may seam gimmick right now but are going to be what makes posible for the IPhone 8 to not have a home button.

By implementing it on the IPhone 6S Apple had time to test it, perfect It and make it cheaper to produce.

While you felt It is a gimmick technology, It is all part of a long game that people fail to grasp.

In a few months when the iPhone 8 comes out without an home button, Apple will have effectively solved, recreated and replaced a 60 year solution for a problem that every one thought It didn’t need any solving...physical buttons.

It is quite an example in relation to our discussion of technology evolution.

The most interesting is that you find this technology gimmick because for years they had to compromise and give you a home button plus 3D Touch, so you didn’t feel they were solving any problem.

That is what I said would happen if you offer mouse support on the Ipad and at the same time a novel and incredible alternative, people will feel it is a gimmick until you just give them one option.

Apple Pay, I never had the opportunity to use It in my country but again, the same problem.

Respect what you said about we being dumb down over the years, I believe in the exact opposite...technology empowers us, and If some catastrophic event brings the destruction of technology, we wouldn’t see how dumb down we were, we would see how powerful we were and how dumb down we are.

 

[Act3]

In a few months when the iPhone 8 comes out without an home button, Apple will have effectively solved, recreated and replaced a 60 year solution for a problem that every one thought It didn’t need any solving...physical buttons.

Since when are physical buttons a problem? They work just fine and are cheaper to repair. Getting rid of them would be a sales gimmick to charge more. Replacing something that is cheaper with more expensive items just for the sake of fixing something that isn't broken.

I'm guessing the power on/off button will still be physical button amd the volume buttons on the side. They'll "fix" those years from now to charge us even more for something not broke.