IRIS 1.7 Release

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Xcessity
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IRIS 1.7 Release

Post by Xcessity »

Hi,

I just finished the the long promised release of IRIS.

Version 1.7 includes two new features:
  1. blink detection
  2. FPS view interactors
To update just download IRIS again from the website.
X-Calibar
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Re: IRIS 1.7 Release

Post by X-Calibar »

I really like the new features.

Bindable blink detection allows for swift navigation. It's very handy. But, I have some suggestions.

For instance, if I look away from the screen entirely, it will register as a blink press. Is there a way to check if the vision target coordinates are beyond valid screen resolution coordinates? Also, it might be handy to have a toggle option to prevent a blink press from registering if both eyes are closed at about the same time. That way, one can comfortably blink without accidentally activating a blink press.
Other ideas: How about besides dwell time (or minimum closed), have a maximum closed control as well? That way you can try defining an exact "sweet spot" time, where it registers. So if you left the option to have two blink presses at once, you could still learn to blink a certain way to trigger it. Lastly, if nothing else. Being able to turn blink presses off and on with a hotkey would be nice (I enjoyed navigating the browser using the eye as a left click, but when writing a document, I kept losing my place.)

Beyond that, it might be nice as well if there were eye key profiles. For instance, left blink is one key, and then right blink switches to a different profile which changes the left eye blink. Or maybe it would be too complicated. Also, ideally, if there could be more than one blink gesture such a profile switching scenario would be more viable. Like, have a normal fast blink press, and then you create a long blink alternate press.
Just putting some ideas out there.

Btw the FPS view interactor works very well!! I walked around in a game with just my eyes to guide me, and it worked reasonably without any practice at it.
The only thing that might improve it, would be having separate X and Y axis sensitivity controls, besides just rotation. I found focusing on targets up and down was more difficult/too sensitive than just turning left and right. Though, actually now that I think about it, maybe I just have to resize the interactor longer off screen to control this?

Besides the new options, is there a way to have blink presses trigger already used hotkeys, such as Gaze Point?
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Re: IRIS 1.7 Release

Post by Xcessity »

Hi X-Calibar,

It is actually a very good idea to check for screen bounds when registering blinks. I just integrated blink detection so I was not even aware of the issue. So this is definitely considered in the future.

During the implementation I also though of incorporating a third blink option "blink both eyes". I still have to wrap my head around the implementation details because there are actually some timing issues that need to be handled. Also something I am working on.

Assigning multiple actions to a blink is possible using macros. So the scenario you mention to blink short for triggering option A and keep the eye closed longer for option B is already possible. What is missing is feedback that you have already reached option B. This is why we need a macro command for playing a sound notification. I will included that soon.

You can also pause the blinks using macros. There are just so many scenarios that you can put into a graphical user interface without blowing it completely. So for these special scenarios I want to use the macro functionality.

You can already switch profiles using eye blink. So if you make identical profiles and just change the blink action you can already achieve this behavior of switching blink actions.


I can include the seperation of up and down sensitivity in the future.

Yes you can actually assign these keys to eye blinks. You need to first unbind these keys, assign them to blink and then reassign them to original function. The assigned function keys are somehow soaked up by the OS when assigned, so to bind them as a key you need to first unassign them.
coxx16
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Re: IRIS 1.7 Release

Post by coxx16 »

Hi,

I tried the fps aim and it was reasonably accurate, but not quite as accurate and snappy as in your demonstration. Any tips for increasing the accuracy?
X-Calibar
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Re: IRIS 1.7 Release

Post by X-Calibar »

coxx16 wrote:Hi,

I tried the fps aim and it was reasonably accurate, but not quite as accurate and snappy as in your demonstration. Any tips for increasing the accuracy?
Before Xcessity answers... In my case, it really depends on the game. I got Consortium working very well for exploring. It felt very natural how I could look around and enjoy the sights, moreso than even the mouse. (I'll try to take a video sometime.) However, when it comes to battle scenes I have a lot of problems trying to fight back. Besides panicing eyes; with glasses, the target is usually offset by a little, at least for me. So games that require high precision shots could benefit from some additional method of fine tuning.

If I had the KinesicMouse, I wonder if that would be the solution.....

Anyway, if you turn the sensitvity too high, you'll probably get a bouncy effect when trying to lock on to a target. You should be able to avoid the bounce effect by focusing on a single spot to prevent that from happening, even if it feels unnatrual. But, as for sheer precision... it won't be any more accurate than using the vision mouse on the desktop. If you can reach your target exactly and easily on the desktop... well then maybe it's just a matter of time before you can do the same on the FPS mode with practice and tweaking options.

PS - resizing the FPS mode interactor might possibly help fine tune it. Now that I think about it, ideally: there should be a way to adjust the settings in-game on the fly with a hotkey, so you can tweak it till it feels right. Then you can save that FPS mode profile for that game.

...Here's an idea I haven't tried:

What if you make a second FPS mode interactor and stack it on top of the other one. But, make the other active when the key press for interactor button is held down. Might help with fast actions. Or just use profile switching. Make one slow and accurate, and the other fast to respond.

One last idea suggestion for future FPS mode tweaking... If you could display on the FPS mode interactor graphically, the dead zone size, and different speed zones maybe represented by color/a graph, it might assist during fine-tuning.
coxx16
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Re: IRIS 1.7 Release

Post by coxx16 »

Hi,

Thank you for the suggestion. I will be sure to attempt the suggestion of layering 2 interactors together and setting one to use a button press. In other news I have successfully done something interesting with the iris/eyex combo that I didn't think was possible. I used iris along with a device called the Cornusmax to connect my eyex controller to my xbox. It took a lot of tweaking in order to get the movement to respond in a 1 to 1 fashion, but it works rather well. Ill make a video of the setup, but Ill have to use the black ops 2 theatre mode in order to show off the gameplay.
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Re: IRIS 1.7 Release

Post by Xcessity »

Hi guys,

thank you for your feedback. It helps me confirm certain experiences and I am working on a few new options. Remember this is the first version of the FPS mode. This kind of interaction in FPS games is does not exist so we are the pioneers doing this.
X-Calibar wrote: target is usually offset by a little, at least for me. So games that require high precision shots could benefit from some additional method of fine tuning.
The offset problem is present with every eyetraking device. That's why all eyetrackers need some special zoom features to work on standard mouse UIs. What usually helps is to calibrate before using, but still you will face an offset. I have a solution for that in mind. Again, can't share bcs. of copycats.

X-Calibar wrote: Anyway, if you turn the sensitvity too high, you'll probably get a bouncy effect when trying to lock on to a target. You should be able to avoid the bounce effect by focusing on a single spot to prevent that from happening, even if it feels unnatrual.
I can confirm this behavior. It tells you that the rotation speed is too high. This may be caused by some delay of the tracking.
X-Calibar wrote: If you could display on the FPS mode interactor graphically, the dead zone size, and different speed zones maybe represented by color/a graph, it might assist during fine-tuning.
Once we know all the settings we need, we can think about a better visual representation. I am with you that the current one is not suitable, it was just the quickest to do and to get the feature out in your hands.

I will get back to IRIS in a few days. Currently there are some time critical things happening with the KinesicMouse.
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Xcessity
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Re: IRIS 1.7 Release

Post by Xcessity »

coxx16 wrote: I have successfully done something interesting with the iris/eyex combo that I didn't think was possible. I used iris along with a device called the Cornusmax to connect my eyex controller to my xbox. It took a lot of tweaking in order to get the movement to respond in a 1 to 1 fashion, but it works rather well. Ill make a video of the setup
Holy sh**, this is awesome!!! I think you may be the world first eyetracking player on Xbox ;)
You should definitely make a video about that and put it on youtube.
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