CeBIT 2011: Laptops that respond to eye movements are here: Lenovo to present

Mouse control is passé, let’s face it, so it’s good the alternative is waiting for us: eye control.

Swedish company Tobii Technology has developed a tracking technology that means the computer will be able to follow the movements of your eyes. Read to the bottom of the screen and the computer will automatically scroll up for you, or look at a point at the screen and it’s like clicking a mouse.

A Lenovo laptop containing the technology is expected to be demonstrated at the CeBIT technology show in Germany on Tuesday.

The technology works by shining two invisible infrared lights at your eye, with two cameras looking for the “glints” off your eyeballs and reflections from the retinas. It will work even if you wear glasses, the company said, but needs to be calibrated for each individual.

For now we’re looking at the technology as an addition to the mouse and keyboard, making the computer faster to use, but we’re hopeful to be seeing blink-of-an-eye computing for the future. After all, eye-tracking devices for researchers and the disabled have been manufactured for years already, but haven’t been cost effective for a general audience. This is now starting to change.