SteelSeries Sentry Eye Tracker streaming here at CES 2015
CES is a place for everyone, whether you're a smartphone aficionado, a TV nut, or even a pro gamer. Making it's way to CES 2015 is SteelSeries' Sentry, its eye tracking accessory co-developed by Tobii who has its own EyeX tracking technology. This peripheral was designed to help pro gamers make the best out of their training sessions, but this time SteelSeries is revealing a slightly odd new feature to the system, allowing even streaming viewers to see what a player is looking at.
In this latest case, when a player is streaming his or her game, the Sentry will put a visual overlay on top of the screen that follows the player's eye movement. This information is passed along to the audience so that they too can see what you're looking at and what you're reacting to. Aside from entertainment value, it also gives observers and aspiring pro gamers some insight on how a player thinks and reacts to some extent.
The SteelSeries Sentry has been touted as more as a learning tool for professional gamers rather than a common gaming accessory. The theory is that the Sentry can record a player's FPM or Fixations Per Minute to help them and their coaches analyze where they are spending most of their attention and change their tactic as needed. And in a highly competitive and sometimes brutal world of pro gaming, every little bit of help and insight can count towards victory or defeat. Last we heard from SteelSeries, the company is looking into gathering the performance data of top pro gamers so that Sentry users will have a reference to compare their own scores to.
Sentry is based on eye tracking from Tobii, who is also developing the technology for its own EyeX device. The EyeX was first seen at CES 2014 and it is here again to make its second CES appearance. Both Tobii and SteelSeries are showcasing their wares at the CES floor, streaming games for everyone to see. So if you're any sort of gamer and happen to be in town, drop by their booths to see this consumer eye tracking technology in action.
