NUIA eyeCharm turns Kinect into an eyetracking device

Munich based 4titoo are hoping that their $60 NUIA eyeCharm will prove popular with current owners of the Microsoft Kinect.

The device fits over the front of the Xbox or Windows based Kinect, which is plugged into a USB port. The eyeCharm sends out infrared light onto the user's face and the Kinect infrared camera is able to detect this. Using 4titoo's NUIA Software Suite and the camera output, the computer can determine which part of the on screen display the user is looking at. The Kinect microphone can be used to deliver voice commands.

When it is all configured, the user can zoom, turn pages, select and scroll, just by moving their gaze.

The company claim that the set up time is just under 10 minutes. It supports Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems although the developers would ideally like to port it over to OSX and Linux at a later date.

A NUIA SDK is also available for developers who are interested in creating their own software to work with the device.

The project is currently running on Kickstarter. Retail price is said to be $60, although if you pledge $50 now you will get one when they reach production. At time of publication, they have raised almost $40,000 of a $100,000 goal with 20 days left.

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