BIG TALK: Michael Proulx, Meta Reality Labs

Topic: Eye tracking in extended reality
When: January 9 2025, 2-3pm GMT online (register on Eventbrite)

Eye tracking is a tool for understanding human cognition, and a technology that can enable novel interactions with current and future computing platforms. Pervasive and mobile eye tracking is now becoming a reality thanks to advances in computational modelling and lower-cost wearable eye trackers, yet many challenges remain. There are great opportunities to advance interaction in Extended (Augmented and Virtual) Reality, with important implications for understanding human attention at a fundamental level, too. I will explore these challenges through a few case studies of our research, starting from novel applications of gaze for interaction in virtual reality, then the use of eye tracking with interactive virtual environments, and building to gaze dynamics in real-world tasks. I will also introduce some new tools and datasets to help advance the field of pervasive and mobile eye tracking applications.

Bio: What does it mean, to see? To perceive? My primary interest in psychology is cognition at the nexus of technology and neuroscience. My research takes root in examining cognition and attentional control within the visual system, and also examining how multisensory processing contributes to perception and cognition. How we we pay attention to the many features and objects in our environment is a key aspect of cognition, and the visual system and eye tracking provide an excellent system for its study. Advancing eye tracking applications for extended reality (XR) is now my key focus.  I am also currently a Research Scientist at Reality Labs Research (Meta née Oculus), where I am advancing eye tracking and other research for new applications in extended reality (AR/VR/MR).

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