GTRACK demonstrated the first transparent camera. One of the applications is a semi-transparent eye-tracking system that is disposed in the line of sight of the user, for portable applications.
Eye-tracking existed since the 1800’s, but is expected to appear abundantly in our daily lives with the advent of virtual and augmented reality. In existing systems, the camera has to be placed close to the eye while not blocking the user’s vision. This leads to issues capturing enough IR light at sufficiently high resolution. Moreover, image processing needs to be performed to correct the distorted image. This processing introduces lag and increases the power consumption of the system. By placing the camera directly on the lens, all these disadvantages are circumvented. Moreover, the large surface area of the lens allows for larger detectors that are more sensitive and hence a reduction of the power consumption of the active illumination can be achieved. An added benefit of the placement of the semi-transparent camera is that it frees up valuable space for other components and thus improvemes the form factor of portable devices with eye-tracking.
The Gtrack array represents a fundamentally different design from previously developed photodetector arrrays. Gtrack integrated semi-transparent graphene / quantum-dot photodetectors with transparent electrodes, and a proof-of-principle 8x8 pixel array was realized. The fully transparent electronic structure allows faster readout speeds using less external electronics, making this design particularly attractive for portable applications.
Real time video imaging was demonstrated, including the tracking of the eye. This opens the door to a whole host of new applications based on this revolutionary technology.
