Samsung’s eye-tracking technology that was introduced in the Galaxy S4 is likely to be superseded with new features in the Galaxy S5 that will track your entire head.
A new European patent application from Samsung details the facility to control a smartphone using the front-facing camera. This allows the camera to monitor the position of your head. There"s no guarantee that this new tech Samsung is working on will make it into the S5 as many patents are filed but the technology never makes it into the real world. The application was filed in July, not too long after the release of the Galaxy S4, so it could be part of Samsung’s R&D iteration cycle in preparation for creating a smarter more controllable smartphone.
The application mentions that controlling your smartphone using your head or facial features would be beneficial in situations where users are not able to control the phone with their hands, when wearing gloves for example. Instead the phone can be controlled using head gestures like a nod or eye movements.
A Samsung executive at CES confirmed the company was looking into technology that would allow the scanning of the users iris which was previously reported on Neowin. It was not confirmed if this would also be part of the new S5, he did however confirm that the Samsung’s new flagship Android phone is expected in the spring which is around the same time as the S4 made its debut last year.
So later on in the year keep a lookout for people walking into poles and tripping over objects as they try to use their head to control their new Samsung smartphone
Source: CNET | Image Courtesy of fredzone