LookPoint: an evaluation of eye input for hands-free switching of input devices between multiple computers

Abstract

We present LookPoint, a system that uses eye input for switching input between multiple computing devices. LookPoint uses an eye tracker to detect which screen the user is looking at, and then automatically routes mouse and keyboard input to the computer associated with that screen. We evaluated the use of eye input for switching between three computer monitors during a typing task, comparing its performance with that of three other selection techniques: multiple keyboards, function key selection, and mouse selection. Results show that the use of eye input is 111% faster than the mouse, 75% faster than function keys, and 37% faster than the use of multiple keyboards. A user satisfaction questionnaire showed that participants also preferred the use of eye input over other three techniques. The implications of this work are discussed, as well as future calibration-free implementations.