March 7, 2013

The Eyes Have IT Scrolling

Samsung's next product is expected to have a display that senses eye movement and can scroll accordingly. Larry Greenemeier reports

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Touch screens are so 2012. We’ll control tomorrow’s smartphones and tablets with little more than a glance. That’s the vision, if you will, that Samsung is expected to present later this month when the company introduces its latest handset—featuring a display that scrolls in response to eye movement.

The company hasn’t confirmed the debut of its “eye scroll” technology. But in February Samsung filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for software that senses eye movement, and can scroll displays according to that motion.

Eye control itself isn’t new—Sweden’s Tobii Technology has developed this capability for Windows 8 tablets and PCs. The real questions are how well it works and whether it is a technology in search of an audience.

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Eye scrolling may turn out to be as popular as Apple’s Siri or it could bomb. It’s obviously not going to solve the problem of gadgets distracting us behind the wheel—please don’t scroll and drive.

Either way, eye scrolling is another sign that Samsung is pushing smartphone technology in new directions. And stealing Apple’s thunder in the process.

—Larry Greenemeier

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]

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