EBay HeadGaze brings hands-free input to the iPhone X using ARKit

Today, eBay has unveiled a new augmented reality software that uses both the iPhone X front camera and Apple's ARKit framework. By following the movements of the head using 3D sensors from the TrueDepth camera, which is the same hardware as the Apple Face ID unlock feature, eBay has developed a way to transmit commands by simply moving the head.

The system, which eBay calls HeadGaze, seems to work in the same way as eye tracking, although this system is naturally less accurate than a complete eye tracking kit. Because eBay's main business is helping people sell products online, the eBay demo video shows how HeadGaze can be used for hands-free online shopping.

Image: eBay

The technology was created by a team of eBay trainees led by Muratcan Cicek, a software engineer and a doctoral student who uses assistive technology as a help for his motor disability. In this sense, HeadGaze – and the purchase application created by Cicek, called HeadSwipe – could be a very useful technology for people with disabilities who are looking for a more accessible way to use mobile devices.

"In addition to this experience, we are exploring an eye tracking experience," writes Cicek in an article on HeadGaze. "The fusion of these viewing experiences opens up a broader opportunity to define different hands-free gestures, enabling much more interesting applications." Given its usefulness for people with disabilities, eBay has decided to launch HeadGaze and HeadSwipe as a project open source. on GitHub so that other application manufacturers can implement Cicek's technology in their own products.