a technology that heralds the mobility of the future

Honor unveiled its flagship, the Magic 6 Pro, last February during the Mobile World Congress 2024, one of the most important technology fairs held annually in Barcelona (Spain). A mobile phone that is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and has an innovative AI-based eye tracking function. A technology that allows you to control your own smartphone with your eyes, how to open applications, even move a car with your eyes.

In EL ESPAÑOL – Omicrono we have been able to verify this last function. The manufacturer met us a few days ago at a location located in a well-known neighborhood of Madrid to experience first-hand what it means to move a car with your eyes thanks to the AI-based eye tracking function of its Honor Magic6 Pro phone. A technology that can be used for turn on or off the vehicle’s engine and even move it forward or backward without anyone sitting inside.

“When you are driving you have to look at many things, both about the car and the road, so this is not the future of driving,” James Brighton, an automotive engineer present at the event, explains to this newspaper. “What we are trying to do is spark interest in the role of AI-based eye tracking, since there is a wide variety of uses that could be given to it; some very simple. For example, it is quite common to use the phone when you are doing a particular thing, such as cooking, and at those times, with greasy or stained fingers, you do not want to touch the phone. smpartone. “Looking could be used instead.”

Driving with your eyes

Thanks to the power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor of the Honor Magic6 Pro, the Chinese company has developed a software which is capable of following the user’s gaze and acting accordingly. In this way, and with the eye tracking system and AI algorithms, when the user directs his gaze towards the screen, the mobile phone itself can interpret these movements and convert them into commands to control a car. An action that, as we have seen, works well and seems like something out of a science fiction movie.

The operation of this technology is simple. The first thing you have to do is go to the Honor Magic6 Pro settings and enter the ‘Eye tracking’ section to activate it. The first time you do it, the ocular data must be calibrated and to do this it is important not to cover your eyes or face. You barely have to fix your gaze on five markers that appear at different points on the screen. Once completed, you can now use this function with which the mobile begins to follow your eyes.

Basically, the phone does eye tracking through the Magic Capsule (or rather the sensor located right next to the camera) at the top of the screen. This way, it knows where you’re looking to press a button without lifting a finger. But how do you move the car with your eyes? “The car is connected to the mobile phone through the Internetwhether by data or WiFi,” says James Brighton. To move it, you have to open a specific Honor application on your phone in which four commands are displayed: start the engine, turn it off, move the car forward and backward.

Enough with fix your gaze on one of these four sections so that the vehicle does exactly what you ask it to do with your eyes. In this case, we moved it a few meters, since the experiment was carried out indoors and the space was safe and sufficient, but not very large. Eye tracking worked well during the experiment and the car responded to commands quickly; although it should be noted that you have to look at the specific button of the application for about two or three seconds, since it is not instantaneous.

We were able to start it, which may have taken a little longer, and move it back and forth, where the response was quicker. It didn’t even take long to turn off the engine when we looked at the corresponding button in the Honor Magic6 Pro app. Of course, the car was moving at a safe speed, about 7 kilometers per hour. The other big secret behind this magic trick is found in the vehicle, which “It has a robotic system inside it to be able to measure its position and control it with just four commands from the smartphones“.

During the experiment we were also able to get into the car while another person moved it with their gaze and the truth is that it is something that is impressive, since you can see how the pedals move on their own or how the car changes gears or starts by itself. . “The brakes, the gears, the accelerator… everything is controlled by an electronic control unit (ECU) which is located in the trunk of the vehicle. So, basically, when you tell it with your eyes to go forward, the ECU releases the brake, puts it in gear and accelerates,” explains the engineer.

The experiment scenario simulated a parking space for a car so “here you can only move forward and backward. Of course, driving a car remotely while looking at a phone is not necessarily a good idea from the point of view of from a security perspective. Another interesting detail is that the vehicle has “a series of sensors, 360-degree surveillance and radar which detects objects in front of the car. So if you see something in front [como una persona] or behind him, he stops or does not accelerate.

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It also comes with a red button that, unlike in the movies, does not activate the ejection seat system, but “It is basically to stop the car in case there is some kind of unforeseen event.“. So in this case it can be pressed; although only in those emergency situations in which it is necessary to stop the vehicle while it is moving and driving with your eyes.

In demonstration phase

This technology is not designed to drive a car with your eyes during a journey, such as a trip, but rather “moving a car with your eyes may be ideal for parking”. In the case of Honor, it contributes the artificial intelligence-based eye tracking function of its phone in this project, which aims to demonstrate the potential that this tool has for various uses, not just for driving. Although it is only available in China, the company is working to bring it to other international markets.

“We use the Honor Magic6 Pro for its AI tracking function. In the end, Now you can control a car with almost anything. We have done it using laptops and even the mind with the power of thought. The interesting thing here is the potential of this technology, which could even be used to control other parts of the car, such as the screen to change songs, take a call [que también se puede hacer con la voz] or open a certain application,” explains Brighton.

Currently, this project It is in a first demonstration phase, and Honor does not plan to reach consumers. Even so, this technology serves to demonstrate that this is a major advance in the field of eye tracking technology, and it is feasible that commercial vehicles will begin to integrate similar features in the future. Even with your eyes you can control other types of devices. A feature that opens up a realm of human-device interactions that holds immense possibilities; and that could also change the lives of people with disabilities or movement disorders.