Look, Mom! No Hands!
Robert Chappell of EyeTech Digital Systems was kind enough to send us this video of World of Goo being played with their eye tracking system. People, that’s playing World of Goo with your eyes! (ok, and a finger for clicking).
Notice how the player glances at the signpost when the level starts.
December 5th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
AWESOME!!! I want one! How much???
December 5th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Wow.
December 5th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I was expecing something to do with MOM…
but very cool!
December 5th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Awesome.
December 6th, 2009 at 2:04 am
Heh. Can you see the way he kept looking at the button for the first level, the name of the level pops up above it, so he looks at the text. But he’s no longer looking at the button, so the text disappears. So he looks at the button. The text reappears. He looks at the text. But the text disappears.
Bit of a problem with rollover tooltip type stuff with this control scheme, I think.
December 6th, 2009 at 2:40 am
That’s also a good tool for game developers: A test person will (unwillingly) show them whether the level design is right and help signs are well positioned.
December 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am
RELATED TOPIC!
That is very awesome!
UNRELATED TOPIC!
Which would you use for a game with ONLY the blocks for Chapter 4 (no Goo Balls), ODE or 2d Box? Or both, melded together to create an unholy super-creature?
December 6th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
hmm…very cool indeed!
December 7th, 2009 at 1:47 am
Cool!!! He has Logitech diNovo Edge keyboard! I want one! And the eye thing is ok too! :)
December 7th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Really cool, just as a WoG reference, you might want to capitalize the O and second M in the word “Mom” in the blog post title. That would be a really subtle yet funny joke.
December 8th, 2009 at 10:06 am
hey…awesome!:D I played WOG on a smart board thing in high-school (a board that acts like a touchscreen)…it was amazingly awesome:D
December 8th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I wonder how well it would work without the on-screen cursor…
December 9th, 2009 at 9:24 am
How long before you can click by winking?
December 10th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Alongside clicking with a mouse/keyboard, you could also use “blink click” to operate completely hands free.
December 13th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
that’s awesome! now people who have physical disabilities can totally play WoG too!
December 17th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Exactly my thought, but irc there are some prototypes around that to that.
I am afraid that this type of game control however, limits your ability to examine the scenery and different objects on the screen, imagine the player glancing at those rotating gears in the advanced levels ;)
December 18th, 2009 at 2:03 am
How many time can anyone stand without winking? Anyway, you could always do left and right wink, double wink…
December 19th, 2009 at 5:44 am
That’s probably a really useful tool for playtesting. Hook the player up and have it record where he’s looking (without affecting the game). You’ll know from the recorded data if the player is noticing level and game design hints you’ve placed in the game.
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:07 am
It seemed odd to me that Valve liked to point out their use of eye-tracking technology during playtests. It always seemed like it would just be a novelty and wouldn’t give much info back. But I have to say that this little video made me reconsider. The way the player glances at the sign twice, the issue with the rollover text… there’s clearly a lot to be learned from this kind of testing. Very cool.
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:38 am
Next: Hand Sensor World of Goo! (not the Wii stuff, like as in sensors showing where your hand is and whether it’s open or closed. Oh, plus a virtual reality helmet. How cool would it be to mime throwing a GooBall at Fisty and watch it happen?)
December 30th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
O_o Kool-eo
January 1st, 2010 at 9:09 pm
I’ve noticed that you’ve slowed down your blog post rate drastically. Perhaps a new project may be on the way?
January 12th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
2DBoy, what are the possibilities of using this technology during play tests to track the player’s eyes and gather metrics on which parts of the screen the player is attracted to etc.?
January 27th, 2010 at 7:50 am
[...] şi Ron Carmel) se laudă cu faptul că jocul poate fi controlat prin simpla mişcare a ochilor, ca aici. Fanii înrăiţi, care au terminat jocul în două zile (să spunem), pot găsi niveluri noi la [...]
February 4th, 2010 at 10:34 am
this game is easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and hard