Talk about a Retina Display!
Be sure to visit IGN Tech for all the latest comprehensive hands-on reviews and best-of roundups. Note that if you click on one of these links to buy the product, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.
Keyboard and mouse are standard for PC gaming, but what if you could directly control the on-screen action with your eyes and head? That's the promise of the Tobii Eye Tracker 4C (See it on Amazon). It's eye-and-head tracking hardware and software designed to make both games and Windows easier to use and more immersive.
Some laptops even have the Eye Tracker hardware built-in. Acer, MSI, and Alienware all have laptops featuring Eye Tracker hardware, and some Acer Predator monitors include it as well. It's also going to be included natively in a future build of Windows 10. If you don't have a monitor or laptop with Tobii Eye Tracking baked in, you can buy the hardware separately and add it to any laptop or monitor, which is what we've done for this review.
The Tobii EyeX is the base model, letting you do things like log-in to Windows using only your beautiful face. The Eye Tracker 4C, which we tested, does everything the EyeX does, but adds head tracking too. The base model costs $79.99 but the 4C is $149, so it's not cheap. Let's take a closer look to see if it's worth it.
Setup, Design, and Features
Set-up for the 4C was a snap. The device comes with two small strips of metal with an adhesive backing. You place one of them on your monitor, either on the top or bottom depending on your personal preference, and the Eye Tracker hardware sticks to it via a magnet on the back (Tobii even includes a spare, which is awesome). Once it's attached you just need to connect it to any USB port for power.
Software installation is similarly easy, and setup and calibration begin automatically once the software finishes its initial installation. The set-up process calibrates the device for your space, asking you to align two on-screen arrows with marks on the 4C itself. You then go through some screens staring at dots on the screen until they burst, and that's it. After it's calibrated there's also an interactive game that requires you to look at an asteroid and then punch the spacebar to shoot them out of the sky so you can see how it works in a game. It's extremely simple, but fun.
There's also a simple tutorial that shows you what the eye tracker can do by "mousing over" menus using your sight.
After the initial calibration is complete, more options in the Tobii software present themselves for its use in Windows. Things like application switching and task view can be be accomplished via eye tracking, and there are options for Synaptics and Precision trackpads that let your eyes assist with your workflow.
In Windows you can perform a ton of useful functions. I turned on the option in the Mouse menu to "Warp on mouse button." I assigned the Page Up key, which I rarely use, as the hotkey to activate it. Now when I look somewhere on my display and tap the Page Up key, the mouse pointer instantly appears where I'm looking.
As neat as it is, it didn't work quite so accurately when I was looking near the edges of the screen, especially the top and bottom corners. I couldn't get it to hit an app in my taskbar very well either, nor could I hit the tabs at the top of my open Chrome window. However, it comes really close, and as far as the other 90% of the screen is concerned, it works surprisingly well.
“
It wasn't accurate enough for me
Despite this feature being fun to play around with I found myself rarely using it. As neat as it is to look and have the mouse pointer appear with the click of a button, it wasn't accurate enough for me to really fall in love with it. It's impressive that it got the pointer exactly where I wanted much of the time, but many times it was a still little off, so I stopped using the feature. The "warp on mouse button" feature also seemed to lose a considerable amount of accuracy when I wore my glasses, and it became really pronounced in the edges.
There is also a Gaze Trace option that makes a bubble appear on your screen that follows your gaze. Tobii says it's designed for people who stream and want their audience to know where they are looking.
There's a "Games and Experiences" option in the software that lets you play around with the eye tracking capabilities. You can replay the set-up game, where you look at asteroids and hit Space Bar to blast them into dust. You can also set your display up or re-calibrate if things aren't working as they seem. Finally, the software places an icon in your taskbar that you can easily access to make changes to its performance at any time.
Gaming Performance
An ever-growing assortment of games support Tobii Eye Tracking, including upcoming games like Assassin's Creed Origins. I tested it out with Rise of the Tomb Raider and Farming Simulator 17, not entirely certain what to expect.
After switching it on in the options menu, I dove into Rise of the Tomb Raider to see what Tobii had to offer. I've played this game before, minus the eye tracking.
Tobii options in Rise of the Tomb Raider.
“
I was able to switch between enemies just by looking at them.
I was quite surprised by how much the Tobii Eye Tracker added to the experience. The huge, open vistas near the beginning of the game, as Lara approaches the first tomb, felt bigger and more real when I could turn my head and look down into the valley below. The same sense of scope was emphasized when I first entered a tomb. Normally the camera pans up to show the size of the interior, but I was able to tilt my head up further, and the camera followed. It added much more to the experience than I thought possible. It wasn't quite the "holy cow!" immersion that happened when I first donned a VR helmet, but it got close. The head tracking made the game feel that much more alive.
Aiming, too, is enhanced by the Tobii Eye Tracking. Looking at an enemy and pulling the left trigger automatically trained the sights, needing only minor adjustments from the controller. I was skeptical that what I was really seeing was some kind of aim-assist, but when presented with two enemies, I was able to switch between them just by looking. It was amazing, and it feels so right.
Farming Simulator 17 takes full advantage of the head tracking capabilities of the 4C. Again, it adds a whole other level of realism when you can turn your head to look at the mirrors on your tractor to make sure the grain trailer is being filled. Oddly, the head tracking in Farming Simulator 17 made me a little motion sick. But as far as enhancing the game, it works incredibly well.
The Tobii Eye Tracker 4C is a weird little peripheral I didn't know I wanted in my life. It works so well in Rise of the Tomb Raider, it makes me wish more games supported it. There's a small (but growing) list of supported games like Arma 3, Watch Dogs 2, and Slime Rancher, but I like it so much I wish all of the most popular games supported it. A lot of Ubisoft games feature support, so hopefully more big developers will follow suit.
Purchasing Guide
The Tobii Eye Tracker 4C has an MSRP of $149.99, and that's the same price it is currently on Amazon. It hasn't ever deviated from that price - at least not yet:
• See the Tobii Eye Tracker 4C on Amazon
The Verdict
Overall the Tobii experience is interesting. Its Windows functions are neat but not quite snappy or accurate enough to wholly replace the mouse. At least not yet. Where it really shines is in games. It's a wonderful compromise offering extra immersion without having to don an expensive VR helmet. If you have more than a few of the compatible games, definitely consider picking it up, but if you have just one or two, it's not really worth it.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire