Anticipating Gaze-Based HCI Applications with the Tech Receptivity Interval: Eye Tracking as Input

HCI researchers have repurposed diagnostic eye tracking technology as a mode of user input. Existing applications are numerous, but primarily address severe motor disability, with a recent increase in gaming enhancement. As noted by cognitive psychologist Nadiya Slobodenyuk, gaze-based HCI represents a fundamental change to the human-computer relationship if adopted for general interaction and information design purposes. A gaze-responsive system can make inferences on a user's mental state and respond rapidly without explicit user commands. The implications of such a system are significant, and are difficult to imagine and anticipate. We introduce the tech receptivity interval (TRI) as a framework to guide speculative design investigations that imagine potential applications of nascent technology. TRI distinguishes infancy and maturity conditions of receptivity, emphasizing the need for users to adapt to technologies before technological affordances can be fully realized. We provide case reports on gaze-based interaction, using TRI and conducted in an academic design studio. The case reports suggest applications not yet addressed in the literature. The case reports also suggest gaze-responsive changes to information structures in the form of temporal hierarchy and temporal text, which break from the long tradition of language representation in static lines and paragraphs.