Apple wants you to be able to select text , or at least text fields, with your eyes. The tech giant has filed for a patent (number 20210240331) for, well, “selecting a text input field using eye gaze.”
It’s a little unclear exactly which devices Apple is targeting this for. The patent data only indicates it’s an alternative to keyboards, buttons, joysticks, and touch-screens, to receive inputs from a user. The rumored “Apple Glasses” — an augmented reality/virtual reality head-mounted display — seems a likely candidate. However, various other patent filings and granted patents show that Apple is also considering eye gaze detection features for Macs, iPads, and iPhones.
Per the new patent filing, when a text input field is displayed on a device’s screen, it’ associated with one or more respective locations on one or more displays. Apple’s idea is that characteristics of an eye gaze are determined using gaze sensors, and a gaze location is determined using the characteristics.
Input is received from an input device corresponding to one or more text characters. If the gaze location corresponds to the one or more respective locations, then the one or more text characters are displayed in the text input field. If the gaze location doesn’t correspond to the one or more respective locations, then the one or more text characters are not displayed in the text input field.
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