3D Selection Vault

Transparent Reality (focus-depth control)

Also known as Focus depth interaction, Gaze focus depth

Where the two eyes converge sets depth: looking near or far moves a 3D cursor in depth or switches between a near and a far layer, replacing a scroll wheel in VR.

How it works

On an Oculus Rift DK2 fitted with two Pupil Labs eye trackers, the focus depth is the point where the two eye rays come closest. A per-user k-nearest-neighbour calibration (k = 3) recognises two depth layers, which was reliable for distances of about 5–25 m. In the study task the mouse moved a sphere sideways and up and down while focus depth moved it nearer or farther, to touch squares placed at different depths; a near HUD that becomes opaque only when looked at is given as a second application. With 10 participants, focus depth performed slightly better than a scroll wheel for depth, without a significant difference, and was preferred.

Papers

• Yun Suen Pai, Benjamin Outram, Noriyasu Vontin, Kai Kunze (2016). Transparent Reality: Using Eye Gaze Focus Depth as Interaction Modality. Adjunct Proceedings of the 29th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST '16 Adjunct), 171-172 doi:10.1145/2984751.2984754