Date:27/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/27/stories/2008062756522000.htm

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Eye controls for electronics

YOKOSUKA: Rolling your eyes to turn up the volume of a portable music player and tapping your fingers to turn on a DVD player are among technologies that a Japanese mobile carrier is testing for “wearable” gadgets.

In one version, sensors and chips inside headphones detect electrical current produced by movements of the wearer’s eyeballs, says Masaaki Fukumoto, executive research engineer at NTT DoCoMo. “We are working on a cell phone of the future,” he said at a research centre here, in a Tokyo suburb.

NTT DoCoMo believes wearable control technology will be adapted for mobile devices that download music, play video games and allow users to shop online and keep up with their e-mail.

The technology may enable cell phone cameras to read bar codes to get product information, download music and coupons when the user simply looks at the codes, researchers said.

The days when wearable technology looks like fancy cumbersome space-suits are over. The latest look is everyday and inconspicuous, blending into the routine, Mr. Fukumoto said. — AP