Vision optics with Integrated VCSELs and Autofocal Lenses

Intelligent devices like smartphones, PCs, smart watches, cars and machines require active visual attention and manual interaction of the user for operation and control, such as by touch screens.

This is not convenient for many applications and also causes user distraction, which may be not acceptable for safety critical situations that require full visual attention, e.g. driving, health applications or control of machines.

Eye-tracking (ET) systems integrated into smart glasses can use parameters like gaze direction or motion of the eye and the eyelid to control the device.

ET can therefore pave the way for completely new hands-free human machine interfaces (HMIs) suitable not only for critical applications but also in general for a more comfortable user interaction, e.g. for consumer devices, industrials applications or education.

However, conventional camera-based ET systems suffer from high costs, complexity, high weights and dimensions as well as sensitiveness regarding ambient conditions.

Therefore, ET is currently applied for some specific use cases but has yet not reached broad market acceptance.The VIVA project will develop the technologies to enable a new class of eye-tracking systems, which will be light-weight, small, power efficient, fast, reliable and highly accurate under nearly all ambient conditions.

The project will integrate and further develop novel sensors based on Laser Feedback Interferometry, small and light meta-optics as well as AI methods and hardware for signal processing and feature detection. The overall eye-tracking system will be verified and demonstrated by typical use cases.

Along with these developments, the new ET technology will be analyzed regarding privacy, data security, safety and CE conformity.

All in all, the outcome of VIVA will leverage the market breakthrough for smart glasses with eye-tracking and will enable the EU economy to gain the technological lead for the next big thing regarding HMIs for smart devices.