Humans suffer from an inherent disadvantage in front of a computer. They do
not have the three hands needed to type and operate a mouse simultaneously. Sun
Microsystems of Mountain View, California, has filed seven lengthy patents (EP
816 979 to EP 815 985) on a system in which the user’s eye controls the text on
a computer screen—leaving the hands free to work on the keyboard.
An infrared light on the monitor shines into the eye. The retina reflects it
back to a sensor, which determines the position of a person’s gaze to within a
centimetre. As the viewer’s eye moves, the text on screen scrolls to keep pace.
If the reader stares long and hard at a passage, the image zooms to give a
closer view.
