Hi guys, what can I say, these past 10-12 months have been so crazy in the accessible gaming world. We now have so many awesome, affordable, attainable and accessible gaming peripherals. This week, the Tobii Eye Tracker 4C arrived at our AT library — much to my delight. I did a quick un-boxing and I was impressed with the quality of the packaging, packing materials and the device itself. Tobii has definitely leveraged their extensive and market-leading know-how in their latest low cost eye-tracking device! The device is currently retailing for under $170 which is simply unheard of for this type of assistive technology. Tobii’s 4C comes with two small strips of metal with an adhesive backing. You are required to place one of them on your monitor/tv/screen, either on the top or bottom depending on your personal viewing preference, and the Eye Tracker hardware sticks to it via a magnet on the back (Tobii even includes a spare, which is very thoughtful). Once it’s attached you just need to connect it to any USB port to power the device.
The 4C is aimed for Windows powered gamers but it is also able to work on some gaming consoles with some tweaking and adjusting. My first experience of the 4C was at CSUN Conference this past spring when I watched some folks play some pretty graphics intensive video games on a gaming laptop rig with this unit hooked up to support an individual with significant motor challenges. I watched this young man use this device to partial control the device with his eyes in conjunction with two ability switches.
My plans for this weekend are already set — I will be testing the Tobii Eye Tracker 4C out on my gaming laptop rig, my son’s Xbox One S and my Playstation 4 Pro with a range of games. It is my intent to follow up once I get sometime spent gaming with this device across the three aforementioned gaming platforms. From my understanding, this device used in conjunction with compatible games will provide eye-tracking access on a range of windows powered games at a very affordable price-point.
As of today, over a hundred titles are available with some level of ‘eye gaze’ control from partial control to complete control using your eyes. Some of the big name games including Hitman, The Division 2, Assassin’s Creed to name a few of the most awesome gaming franchises! Overall, my impressions of the device, the available support and the growing library of ‘eye gaze’ games has me feeling very positive about this device.
Thanks for reading,
Andrew