Watching You, Watching Me
From: Globe and Mail (Canada) - 05/26/2005 - P. B15
By: Grant Buckler

Researchers at Queen's University's Human Media Laboratory are developing
technology that has a greater awareness of people, according to lab director
Roel Vertegaal. Among the projects under development at the lab is the
eyeBlog, a system consisting of special glasses equipped with a camera and a
sensor that picks up beams of infrared light reflected off a nearby person's
eye; the camera starts recording video automatically when the sensor
ascertains that the wearer has been maintaining eye contact with someone for
over 10 seconds, and this video is fed to a computer. Vertegaal says the
video clips produced by eyeBlog need virtually no editing. He says the device
could be used in the treatment of autism and for recording person-to-person
interactions. Another product from the lab is the eyeBox, a USB digital
camera that detects people staring at it, and that can be employed to control
programs via head and eye movements. Vertegaal says the device could
potentially find use in psychological experiments and safety provisions.
Still another Human Media Lab project is the Attentive Cubicle, an overhead
camera that monitors the activities of people sitting in adjoining cubicles.
The system helps facilitate communication between cubicle dwellers by
detecting when two people are facing an opaque cubicle divider, and then
turning the partition transparent so they can converse face-to-face. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050526.gttwtechlab26/BNStory/Technology/

Links:
http://hml.queensu.ca/

Eye Contact Sensor Eye Tracker
http://hml.queensu.ca/projects.html

Attentive User Interface
http://www.ccnmag.com/news.php?id=3072

"Attentive" cubicles help workers focus in busy offices
http://qnc.queensu.ca/story_loader.php?id=41c71b25bb7d1
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-12/qu-ch122004.php
http://www.physorg.com/news2458.html

eyeBlog
http://www.hml.queensu.ca/blog/archives/000066.html
http://slashdot.org/articles/04/05/16/2340217.shtml?tid=149

Roel Vertegaal
http://www.hml.queensu.ca/roel.html
