eyeBlog 142
cottonbuds writes "Researchers at Human Media Lab, Queen's University in Canada presented the ECSGlasses: eye contact sensing glasses that report when people look at their wearer. When eye contact is detected, the glasses stream this information to appliances to inform these about the wearer's engagement. According to HML.Blog the ECSGlasses uses a wearable, wireless Eye-Contact Sensor (1.3MB .jpg) to gauge when the user receives eye-contact from an onlooker. eyeBlog uses this information to record and publish face-2-face conversations without dividing the user's attention between the event being recorded, and the device being used to record it. Moreover, because eyeBlog uses eye-contact to start and stop recording, users do not need to sift through hours of footage to find interesting segments. If you are the academic type you can read the paper (2.2MB .pdf), otherwise the video in .mpg (1:49min, 320x240, 7.5MB), or mp4 (1:49min, 320x240, 4.9MB) should explain everything. Video Mirror: .mp4 .mpg."
Are You lookin at ME? (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
why bother (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:why bother (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah me too.
However...
What I can't do is record a long series of video and remember the time stamp of when eye contact was made.
Oh, I also can't make an appliance turn on or perform a specific task by looking at it.
But yeah, I can tell if someone is looking at me.
Re:why bother (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:why bother (Score:5, Funny)
Re:why bother (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:why bother (Score:1)
So just put the glasses there.
And I'm sure what you're wearing on your head or chest has nothing to do with where people stare.
Even if it is large sunglasses with lights, wires, and lenses.
And a flashing sign saying "What are you staring at?"
Re:why bother (Score:5, Funny)
Oh the humanity!
Eye-Contact Sensor (1.3MB
PDF [freecache.org]
mpeg1 [freecache.org]
mpeg2 [freecache.org]
Re:why bother (Score:2, Informative)
Re:why bother (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:why bother (Score:3, Interesting)
Animal instinct, I think. Spot the tiger that's just spotted you.
IIRC research has shown that if a predator is eyeing up a herd of prey (e.g. cheetah lounging near grazing antelopes), typically one of the herd will start getting skittish while the others graze on obliviously, and sure enough the nervous one is the one that gets eaten.
Of course, this instinct weakens if people are used to getting stared at, which is why it's a
Re:why bother (Score:2)
This is /., remember? Social interaction is unknown to many regulars... *g*
Re:why bother (Score:1)
Yes, but that doesn't mean we sense all of them, or anywhere near that. I find I can easily sense eye contact when I'm looking back at them, or close to it, but otherwise I have no idea who might be looking at me.
Re:why bother (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:why bother (Score:2)
Re:why bother (Score:1)
As far as I can tell, these glasses detect when someone looks at you, whether the wearer is looking back or not.
It's a good point; the original article confuses these definitions, and the answer to "Why bother?" then becomes that these glasses detect more than just two-way eye contact.
Similar items... (Score:5, Interesting)
Can we expect this device to be on the market anytime soon?
Re:Similar items... (Score:3, Insightful)
Coincidental or not... any technology will eventually be (attempted to be) used for something that involves people being naked
CECSblog (Score:2)
Re:CECSblog (Score:1)
Actually, perhaps the device could record the things most worth recording by watching everyone's eyes, including yours, in the immediate area and then taking video of anything that seems to be getting the most eyeballs.
Re:CECSblog (Score:2)
Ugly (Score:5, Funny)
Not the greatest example (Score:5, Funny)
Your daughter's first smile. Your son's joy the first time he catches a ball. The wink your favorite uncle always gave you, but that he'd never do on camera.
Uhhhh, WHAT?
Hmm... (Score:2)
Re:Not the greatest example (Score:5, Funny)
The deposition.
The trial.
The years of therapy you go through to get over your favourite uncle.
The list just goes on and on!
almost what i want (Score:5, Funny)
i was wrong in that assumption, btw.
Re:almost what i want (Score:3, Insightful)
It could be made much more inconspicuous.
Re: (Score:2)
Good, but.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Good, but.. (Score:2)
As for tolerating, people seem to tolerate almost everything these days. Just use the magic "terrorism" word..
Better Use (Score:5, Interesting)
And depending on how large the return IR area is, it could also be used to determin where someone is looking at on the screen (with say 3 or 4 IR sensors to triagulate position based on return signal strength).
Then again, the down side is now we geeks NEED to make eyecontact.
Re:Better Use (Score:1)
Re:Better Use (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Better Use (Score:2)
I need a beer. (looks at beer. Beer flies across room into hand).
Re:Better Use (Score:3, Informative)
Dare I provide another link to send my deparment's server to oblivion, if you search the HML website you find several papers published on that very topic.
Re:Better Use (Score:3, Informative)
That is pretty close to how many current eye-tracking systems work.
example1 [www.mpi.nl]
example2 [arringtonresearch.com]
example3 [eyelinkinfo.com] (bulky)
Like... (Score:2, Insightful)
Or what about the advertising potential? If someone looks at a particular type of ad repeatedly, that builds a profile of the person's interests.
Re:Like... (Score:1)
<tin-foil-hat> I don't want people knowing what I'm looking at. Especially bikini ads, for which my multiple impressions never end in a sale for them
Re:Like... (Score:2)
Me: Damn!
Public speaking? (Score:5, Funny)
And just what the hell will happen if you're giving a speech or performance for 10k people? All looking at you at once as your contacts get Slashdotted and fry to a crisp...
No thanks -- I'll keep my old fashioned contacts.
-JemEye contact? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Eye contact? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Eye contact? (Score:1)
same kinda of technology is currently being tested for the fighter pilots, so that they can control various equipemnts only by looking at the controls.
Re: (Score:1)
Staring won't be a problem anymore (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Staring won't be a problem anymore (Score:2)
The first mistake you made indicates you are an American, as we are notorious for botching our use of this particular verb tense. You should have used "You've made" or perhaps "You have made" instead of "You made." This is writing is traditionally considered to be present tense, and the present perfect tense is used to indic
Focus-follows-sight (Score:5, Insightful)
Who wants to look at eyes? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Who wants to look at eyes? (Score:3, Funny)
Second version in development (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Second version in development (Score:1)
Re:Second version in development (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Second version in development (Score:2)
Like, whoa... (Score:1)
Neo! It's you!
The LEDs I first thought were gratuitous and unnecessary but after WTFV I know they are IR LEDs that are required for the function of the cam.
Couldn't they at least put them behind some kind of casing so they couldn't be seen? I guess this is only a prototype...
that picture... it makes me say (Score:1)
Only a matter of time (Score:1)
why?! (Score:3, Funny)
Privacy concerns (Score:2, Interesting)
I wonder what the latency is? (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder what the latency is between when someone hears something interesting, and when they look up at the person who is speaking.
It seems to me that this sort of thing (great as the idea is) should be recording full-time, and then discarding anything that hasn't prompted the wearer's interest with "N" seconds.
There are probably also ways to detect the wearer's interest outside of trying to figure if they are looking at a person. Eyeball behaviour. Head behaviour. Mental activity. Probably the sorts of cluster of patterns that some sort or neural net would do well with once it was trained to recognise them.
It's all a great idea though, and naturally enough one that has seen more mature versions appearing in SF books for decades. Good to see reality moving in this direction too.
Re:I wonder what the latency is? (Score:1)
eye implant (Score:2, Funny)
Re:eye implant - OT (Score:1)
is it just me? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:is it just me? (Score:2)
They're probably Ashraks looking for Tok'rah.
Mirror mirror (Score:4, Funny)
Great for people with handicap (Score:4, Interesting)
Nowadays there are similar systems. A paralysed friend of mine uses a small LED beamer attached to his glasses to use the computer. By moving his head, he moves the red dot on the screen which functions as the cursor. A sensor of some kind interpretes the signal and moves the cursor.
Pretty expensive piece of equipment, though.
Well, instead they could use some of those sensors to track eye movement and position in relation to the computer screen.
Being given the proper use, I think these gizmo's will eventualy find their way on the right market.
Re:Great for people with handicap (Score:2, Interesting)
I think one of the best applications (which combines some other parts of his work) is something that can tell if you are busy or not and then take / not take action. For example, if you are connected to the internet and you receive an e-mail, but at that point yo
Re:Great for people with handicap (Score:2)
It seems sad that such a device would be a "pretty expensive piece of equipment". It's been 20 years since the first shoot-em-up type video games came out with technology that could detect where you were aiming (minus the
Maybe its getting the extra accuracy to really pinpoint a character sized block of pixels that causes the issue, but seems like even that would be solvable via a software search. i.e. paint a small inverse color block on every other frame and move the block around in the area that you th
There's a problem (Score:2)
Re:There's a problem (Score:1)
The person who wears this will have social hadicap, and will most likely be the unspoken subject of conversations when people say, "Whatever you do, don't make eye contact."
One step closer to HAL (Score:3, Funny)
Neat! (Score:3, Insightful)
I find that this technology actually makes a lot of sense in a business environment, specially if coupled with some sort of retina light beam scanning [ieee.org] technology. I can envision a meeting where businessmen, while negotiating, could access relevant information about the person they were talking to on the fly, including important corporate information.
There are, however, two major showstoppers. One is the matter of privacy. I may not be interested that everyone I gaze at gets an instant picture of me without my authorization, specially because I'm not all that pretty ;). Second, in societies and cultures where eye contact is just not important or is considered as intrusive an menacing, such as in Japan, the system would just not be functional
But still... great for nerds who can't really tell if a woman is giving them the eye... perhaps with a computer telling them so they'll be more confident ;)
"wearable, wireless Eye-Contact Sensor" (Score:3, Funny)
"I am Lokutas of Borg: Resistance is futile!"
The problem is... (Score:3, Funny)
I heard... (Score:3, Funny)
Something similar in a Recent episode of Alias... (Score:2, Interesting)
A good example (Score:2, Interesting)
Incidentally, I'm not normally the paranoid type, but video-(b)logging all face to face conversations? Seems a little risky/extreme. For the general public that is, as opposed to whacky cyborg professors. [wearcam.org]
Engagement (Score:3, Funny)
I read this as "the contact's engagement."
Scanning...
Married
Bodybuilder boyfriend
Engaged
Single - WE HAVE A WINNER!
What if you are shy? (Score:1)
And besides, we all know that the only people who would want this are geeks, and the only people who could use this would not be people with friends. *coughMutualy Exclusive?cough*
Re:What if you are shy? (Score:2)
He looks at your shoes when speaking to you.
Most geeks don't make eyecontact though (Score:1, Redundant)
In fact, how about a sensor that picks up the vibrations of your jawbone when you speak to turn on the camera instead of an "eye contact" camera.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Go back to AIM (Score:4, Funny)
Get it through your heads, people: Numerals are not syllables and connot be substituted for them. "2" is NOT the same thing as "to". "1" cannot be substituted for the "one" in "someone". "4" is NOT the same thing as "for".
If you are going to use these kinds of sloppy, illegible, ugly, non-standard substitutions, just go whole hog. No point in half measures. Example:
Is that what you want? To sound like an illiterate 14 year old girl on AIM? Then understand it now: Numerals and syllables are not interchangable. When you act like they are, you cheapen the quality of life of everyone who accidentally reads your fetid heap of alphanumeric garbage.
Re:Go back to AIM (Score:2)
The great thing about language is that it is highly flexible, and that even if you substitute numbers, people still understand you, and if used in certain ways, can even let you read things quicker.
So *you're* the one... (Score:2)
So *you're* the one that's been filling my inbox with spam.
old news? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:old news? (Score:1)
other uses? (Score:1)
then no more free looks?
Can you hear it? (Score:1)
That tremor
kulakovich
Cat exclusion software? Other uses? (Score:3, Interesting)
My first thought, by the way, was for it to detect when people were averting their gaze. "He's lying", the eyePhone whispered into my ear, "he's only making eye contact for 20% of his statements".
Have it measure pupil dilation and a few other things and you'll have a heck of a Date Meter. Things were looking up, until my eyePhone's warning buzzer went off. "Pupil dilation reduces 5% every time he makes eye contact, and increases 30% when he looks over your left shoulder." I glanced back to see who my competition was...
Wouldn't record much in this crowd (Score:2, Funny)
Eye contact (Score:3, Funny)
What if? (Score:1)
They actually prevent each other from working?
Evasive, shifty-eyes not recorded (Score:3, Insightful)
Sociobiologically inconsistent (Score:5, Interesting)
Notice next time you're talking to a male colleague. Feel the discomfort if you try to prolong eye contact. Then compare when talking to a woman.
Oh, wait. This is Slashdot....
As I asked on the HML blog... (Score:2)
Another idea (Score:1)
Hmm (Score:1)
Ah well, perhaps in my next life. =)
Sounded useful... (Score:2)