Why use eye tracking?

There are quite a few games that have support for Tobii Eye Tracking, and it is everything from Simulators to RPGs. Each game has tailored features that make the game experience better and more immersive. As an example, in simulators, the most popular feature is Extended View, where you can use eye and head movements to move the in-game camera. Imagine you're in your car, you're driving and then stopping at an intersection. Now you have to look out for vehicles on your left, to do so you're turning both your head and your eyes simultaneously, and you get a completely different view angle. 

With an eye tracker, we'd track your eyes and head to move with your natural movements without having to use mouse input. By using your natural input increases your spatial awareness and makes you much more immersed with the game. The possibilities don't end there. You can, for example, also make UI elements only appear when you look at them to avoid clutter, and yes, eye tracking is so responsive you wouldn't notice any delay.

Also, a personal favorite of mine is interactive maps. So, you're just finishing a sweaty boss fight, and since you're like a non-fictional John McClane, you have the energy to jump on to your next target. So you go to your map to find your next location, and the map is interactive, so it will move accordingly to where you look. Even better, when you zoom in, it will zoom into the area you are focusing on. Why assume you want to zoom at the center when your focus is elsewhere? That's right. You just realized that it could be useful. 

If you want to see some of the available features in action, I would recommend checking out the features available in Dying Light since that is the most substantial Tobii Eye Tracking integration to this date. Don’t watch it if you are not a fan of zombies though, they bite.

If you’re curious and want some more details on the use of eye tracking in games, please read our article on how eye tracking in gaming works.

Please note that every game offers different features. 

Do you have a channel where you upload content? Cool, then you can totally make your content more insightful with eye tracking using our app Tobii Ghost.

Imagine you're creating a video tutorial, and maybe you use your mouse cursor to show your viewers where you're looking, or perhaps you even have to explain where your area of interest is. With eye tracking, you could visually show your viewers at all times where you're looking, and your viewers would always have the context to know what's going on. Then you can concentrate on the important stuff. 

WackyJacky has a perfect example of the use of eye tracking in tutorials. 

Are you into streaming? Awesome, keep it up! We have an app called Tobii Ghost, which lets you stream with a visual bubble that shows your viewers where you are looking. By doing so, you will also give them other valuable insights like understanding your decision making and tactics. 

Tobii Ghost works with all platforms by capturing the overlay in your recording software.

If you're streaming on Twitch, we have an available Twitch Extension for Tobii Ghost, which gives your viewers full control of whether they want to see the bubble or not. They can also customize the bubble and change the shape and color. It is the little things! 

Do you want to become a better player? Do you aspire to be one of the best players in esports? Then eye tracking could be a useful tool for you.

Are you looking at the mini-map enough? Are you focusing in the right place at the right time? You can learn to understand your actions a lot more by looking back at what you were focusing on the most. Maybe you even took your eyes off of the screen to stop your cat from clawing your desk chair. Don't have a cat? You're in luck, one distraction less.

You can use our app, Tobii Ghost, to capture where you are looking in-game if you are recording your gameplay. In the app for Ghost, you can choose if you want to capture where you are looking in the shape of a bubble or a heatmap.

In Tobii Ghost, you can not just change the shape but also responsiveness, trail, decay, size, opacity, and the color of your gaze overlay. 

Cool, everyone wants a piece of esports, and we have grabbed our part, and oh boy, are we savoring it. Eye tracking can have different use cases here as it is used for training esport teams by analysis and in live broadcasting. 

For training, both as a team or a solo player, you can look back at your sessions and see where your focus was. Was it in the right place at the right time? Were your reactions slow? What can you improve? You can learn a lot about yourself by looking back and owning up to potential mistakes. Then you can also really concentrate on improving what's important. 

In live broadcasting, commentators can go back and look where each player was looking during crucial moments, and it opens up discussion regarding the player's actions and reaction times. 

Check out Shox's eye movements in a clip from ELEAGUE.

Since eye tracking can be used as a complement to using a keyboard and mouse, we can also use it to make our lives a little bit easier when using a computer.

If you're a frequent Windows user, you have probably used Application Switcher, and instead of using keys to pick what window you want to bring forward, you can use your eyes to make your selection. It's very intuitive, and once you have started using it, you won't want to be without it.

You can also use eye tracking for privacy features, such as when you leave your computer, it can blur your screen, and no one but you will be able to unblur it.

It would be silly, not to mention Windows Hello, where you can log in to Windows by using facial recognition — typing in a password? Nah, just sit down and show yourself, and you're in!

Please note that all devices have different features available.