May 20, 2004
Now, sunglasses to detect eye contact!
This is wild. Canadian researchers have developed a pair of sunglasses that can detect when someone is making eye contact with the wearer, according to Web India.
"The researchers have said that besides being useful in singles bars, the system could play a key role in video blogging, a hi-tech form of diary keeping.
The glasses consist of a normal pair of shades with a small CCD camera attached on the bridge between the lenses. This is connected to a handheld computer, worn at the hip, which handles the image processing.
A potential application for the glasses would be to create attention-sensitive devices, such as mobile phones. Vertegaal's team is experimenting with using eye-contact detection to tell when someone might be too busy to receive a phone call.
But instead of switching the phone off when the person is busy, he says, the team has designed an icon to appear on the caller's phone indicating that the person they are calling is currently busy.
Vertegaal said that they have also considered broader applications, such as possible use in a singles bar. But there is a possible drawback. "The glasses don't distinguish between male and female," said Vertegaal.
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