DYNAMIC TARGET EXPANSION TO FACILITATE EYE-BASED POINTING AT MENUS

Abstract

With recent advances in eye tracking technology, eye gaze gradually gains acceptance as a pointing modality. Its relatively low accuracy, however, determines the need to use enlarged controls in eye-based interfaces. This renders the overall design quite distant from “natural”. Another factor impairing pointing performance is deficient robustness of an eye tracker’s calibration. To facilitate pointing at standard-size menus, we developed a technique that uses dynamic target expansion for on-line correction of the eye tracker’s calibration. Correction is based on the relative change in the gaze point location upon the expansion. A user study suggests that the technique affords selection accuracy of 91%. User performance is thus shown to approach the limit of practical pointing. Effectively, developing a user interface that supports navigation through standard menus by eye gaze alone is feasible.