Malcolm Owen
The Eyeware Beam is an app for iOS devices that takes advantage of the TrueDepth camera system to allow users to track eye or head movements while they are playing a game on a PC.
Eyeware's first consumer product shown at CES, Eyeware Beam is an app that hopes to make it easier for people to try out eye tracking and head tracking, without needing to buy a dedicated system for either task. Instead, the app uses Face ID to perform the same task.
Using the TrueDepth camera array in iPhones and iPad Pro models, the app uses a proprietary 3D eye and head tracking technology, separate from functions offered in ARKit. The front-facing camera array is used to perform both eye tracking and head tracking, which the app then reports to counterpart software running on a PC.
There are a number of ways that users can take advantage of the technology, which Eyeware suggests could be useful for social media influencers to show what they are looking at when they are creating reaction videos. For gamers, eye-tracking could help inform them of how they play games, enabling serious players to learn to look at different parts of the screen.
The head tracking feature will also let simulator players use special functions in some games that can use the data, such as a flight simulator changing a camera angle based on how the player tilts their head.
As well as eye-tracking, the app also allows the iPhone or iPad Pro to work as a virtual camera for video calls and game streams, enabling a higher resolution camera to be used as a webcam.
Eyeware Beam is currently in private beta, with a public release said to be on the way. The current version works with the iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPad Pro, but should work with any model with Face ID when it is released.
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Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
2 Comments
This app, and others to come, have the potential to be a life-changing aid for people who live with movement and speech-limiting disabilities. A great addition to current eye-tracking hardware and software solutions for alternative and augmentative communication (AAC). This is big news.
If Apple can make FaceID even more accurate and smarter this could be huge for 3D gaming and other applications.