We all know Webkit is a fantastic engine, just as we all appreciate its 3D capabilities and css transforms effects when we see a well implemented one. But when I thought I had seen everything Webkit could offer (or at least a good part), there I stumbled upon this article on HplusMagazine, describing the Text 2.0 project, an enhanced reading experience that combines (or should, at last) eye tracking, neat javascript and CSS tricks to create a brand new, revolutionary way of reading web content.
From the post:
“This is not simply a case of using infrared light, a camera, and eye movement to move a cursor and click buttons: Text 2.0 infers user intentions and enhances the reading experience in far more complex ways. Reading certain words, phrases, or names can trigger the appearance of footnotes, translations, definitions, biographies, even sound effects or animations. Ask how a word is pronounced and you get a verbal answer. If you begin skimming the text, it fades out the less important words. If you glance away, a bookmark automatically appears, pointing to where you stopped reading.”
Sounds crazy and it’s a very long term project, but the developers are already showing off the first rough demos, and they’re impressive. The video we embed below demonstrates how the guys managed to implement a PEEP (Processing Easy Eye Tracker Plugin) into Webkit using their own eye tracking devices (which are really expensive) in only 4 hours. They’ve got this working version of “Gaze Controlled Tabs”, pretty self explanatory.
Now imagine this applied to your favorite blogs, with eye tracking technology built in every future MacBook and iPad (indeed, Apple spent some money on eye tracking techonology back in 2009), and smart enough to understand your habits as you keep using it. It’s uncanny, genius and a potentially game changer, but I think my dad would have said the same 30 years ago if someone told him in the future he would be able to hold the web in his hands.
