14 DAY TRIAL // You might remember Tobii as the company that experimented with eye-control on Windows 8 tablets. But another obvious use of eye-tracking software would be to apply it to smart glasses like the Google Glass.
So this week Tobii has pulled the veil off its next-gen eye-tracking glasses, whose design builds upon the first model the company offered a while back.
The new head-mounted wearable arrives with a less clunky feel and is capable of capturing a wider field of view.
You’d probably be very interested to know the purpose of Tobii building the second-generation smart glass – it is meant as a tool to provide researchers with better insight into the puzzling nature of human behavior.
If this might bring back Google Glass vibes, we should point out the Tobii Glass 2 aims to analyze how people interact in certain environments or what customers look for in retail locations or restaurants.
Tobii entered the wearable eye tracking market four years ago with the first Tobii Glasses Eye Tracking device, but since then it manage to perfect the original prototype.
Tobii says the wearable can be used by first-time eye-tracking users working on studies or even advanced comprehensive analytic projects.
So bottom line is that the new smart glasses aren't being launched for a larger audience, but mostly for the scientific community and those working in research.
The next-gen Tobii glasses bring a few new features to the table, including live viewing feature, a “true view” that translates into a wide-angle 1080p HD scene camera, four eye cameras, flexible mapping and a light-weight frame of just 45 g / 0.09 lbs.
The Live View function will allow researchers to see exactly what the wearer is looking at, for example what cereal box they are contemplating.
The Tobii glasses also bundle 2.4GHz and 5GHz band Wi-Fi, SD card storage and offer up to 120 minutes of battery in recording mode.
The new wearable is also compatible with Windows 8 Pro tablets and Windows 7 or 8 PCs, making it easier for researchers to transfer and work with large amounts of data on big screens.
To make the device more appealing, Tobii is even offering training programs to teach people how to use the glasses.
The costs of the smart glasses are pretty high, with the Live View version reaching $15,000 / €10,945 while the Premium Analytics one goes on sale for $25,000 / €18,242.
