Manu Kumar, a doctoral student from Stanford University, believes the mouse will one day be replaced by our gaze.

The aptly titled project GUIDe, Gaze-enhanced User Interface Design uses eye tracking software called EyePoint with a hi-definition camera to navigate files and surf the web. The approach requires the user to simply focus in on the area they wish to interact with. The area becomes magnified and a hot-key is released to initiate the click. Kumar hopes to eliminate the need for a hot-key altogether and future gazed-based iterations will only require you to blink to initiate a click.

It seems interface design is moving away from tactile responses towards modular digital interfaces. The reasoning being they better imitate the natural gestures people use. Understanding this dichotomy, Kumar originally included a blue dot to follow your gaze so you always knew where you’re looking at but the eye is so much faster optically, the dot slowed a user down considerably. We don’t have natural tactile feedback when we look at something so subsequent tests sans the blue dot revealed people could navigate almost as fast as a mouse if they just trust themselves.

[Via Technology Review]

As you may know voip is all the rage. The Worldgate Ojo is what I like to call foip technology, or fugliness over internet protocol, because most people on the interwebs have about as much physical appeal as a 3 year old opened package of bologna.

The real news is that the Ojo is now capable of working with the H.263 and G729 video and audio codecs along with now being able to use the H.323 communication protocol. This basically means the Ojo can work with other webcams and of course it will still be able to interact with other Ojos.

“We are confident that this interoperability will not only further the advancement of the video phone market, but also, Ojo’s market penetration and leadership position within that market,” said Hal Krisbergh, Chairman and CEO, WorldGate

The capability will first be used by SNAP VRS, a subsidiary of Aequus technologies, beginning this March. Snap VRS provides sign language interpretation for the hearing impaired and now will not be limited to just Ojo video phones. For those interested in the Ojo it costs $399 dollars directly from Worldgate.

*Tidbit of the day: Ojo means eye in spanish.