Windows 10 receives built-in eye tracking support

2 min. read

Published on August 4, 2017

published on August 4, 2017

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Microsoft recently revealed that Windows 10 would soon receive support for eye tracking through a brand new feature called Eye Control.

The new technology’s origins

The new feature is currently available in beta on the latest Windows 10 Insider build. It comes from a project which inspired by a person with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

Microsoft explained that eye control could make Windows 10 more accessible by giving people with disabilities the power to operate an on-screen mouse, a keyboard and to have a text-to-speech experience only by using their eyes.

Tobii 4C eye tracker

This amazing experience will require a compatible eye tracker such as the Tobii 4C. This will unlock access to Windows and will give the operating system the possibility to do the tasks that could previously be accomplished with a physical mouse and a keyboard.

PC gamers may already know Tobii by now for its eye tracking technology in PC and VR games.

Tobii Dynavox

Microsoft also established a division focused on accessibility called Dynavox that’s developing lots of accessibility functions using eye tracking on Windows PCs. Tobii Dynavox is currently working to make sure that current and new generations of eye tracking devices and software will be compatible with the Eye Control feature in Windows.

We don’t know for sure yet if the Eye Tracking feature will be ready for the upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, but this is exactly the type of improvement that demonstrates the company’s commitment to empowering users to achieve more. It remains to be seen if the Windows Insider team will analyze this new eye tracking feature when the new Windows 10 preview builds will come out.

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More about the topics: Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web. Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they're looking for.