360° View Control by Eye Movement for Extended Reality

Virtual/extended reality (VR/XR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) provide users with a portal to virtually infinite display space that extends all around them. This has the potential to revolutionise work, learning and leisure activities as users can enter personalised spaces from anywhere via their HMD to access 3D data, views and apps all around in 360°. However, full use of the surrounding space is only possible with extensive head and body movement as HMDs are head-coupled – prohibiting access in crowded or constrained spaces, causing neck strain during seated use, and excluding users with limited neck mobility.The EyeView360 project will develop a proof-of-concept for a radically new idea for view VR/XR view control by eye movement – providing users with a new super-power of looking all round in virtual space from seated positions without neck strain. Use of eye movement for view control is highly innovative and challenging as it overlays the use of our eyes for seeing with a control function that manipulates our view. Basic principles for how this may be possible have been observed in the ERC Advanced Grant GEMINI, and the goal of EyeView360 is to demonstrate usability, efficiency and ergonomic benefits of view control by eye movement. The project will develop the innovation potential through an open access toolkit designed to be customisable for uptake across VR/XR platforms, HMD devices and applications. In addition, it will develop a complete proof-of-concept for 360° video viewing as specific application use case. This will be used for extensive testing with users to validation of usability, efficiency and quality of experience.