How to Read Thoughts with Eye Tracking in Virtual Reality

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👁️‍🗨️ Imagine this:

You’re inside a virtual room. Objects float around chaotically.
Your only tool?
Your eyes.

No controller.

No clicks.
Just gaze.

Now imagine—your gaze doesn’t just control the game.
It reveals what you’re thinking.

 

🎮 A VR Game that Thinks with You

At the 5th International Workshop on Privacy and Ethics in Eye Tracking (PrEThics), we unveiled a memory challenge game powered by real-time eye tracking and cognitive inference. Based on that, we will we will showcase an interactive VR memory game using eye tracking at the gamescon in August 2025.

💡 The Setup:

  1. Phase 1: You memorize object placements.
  2. Phase 2: Chaos erupts. Objects scatter.
  3. A hidden „magic eye“ feature helps by watching where you look and predicting what you remember.

 

It’s not just gameplay—it’s a live experiment in mind-machine interaction.

 

Phase 1: You memorize object placements.

Phase 2: Chaos erupts. Objects scatter.

👓 From Niche to Normal: The Eye Tracking Revolution

Eye tracking used to be confined to labs.

Now, it’s headed for: 🕶️ Smart glasses📱 Smartphones 🧠 Cognitive health apps 🎮 Immersive games

As devices become cheaper and smarter, eye tracking evolves into Big Eye Tracking Data—rich, complex, and deeply personal.

 

🔍 What Can Eye Tracking Reveal?

Your eyes reveal:

  • What do you look at
  • How long have you been looking?
  • In what order
  • Where did you hesitate

Now, with Blickshift Analytics and Machine Learning, we decode:

  • Attention patterns
  • Memory performance
  • Cognitive overload
  • Even emotional reactions

 

“It’s no longer just where you look—it’s why you look.”

 

With Blickshift Analytics, we can analyze eye movement behavior, also known as cognitive processes, in an unprecedented way.

 

 

⚖️ But Should We?

 

With great gaze data comes great responsibility.

We will ask our audience:

  • Are you okay with apps guessing your emotions?
  • Should gaze data be used in marketing? Healthcare? Education?
  • What ethical safeguards do we need?

 

🔁 From Gameplay to Public Dialogue

Our interactive booth didn’t just showcase tech.
It sparked public conversations on:

👁️ Surveillance vs Support

🧠 Assistive tech vs Thought control

🕹️ Gaming vs psychological research

This is where innovation meets ethics.

 

🚀 Where We Go Next

Our mission?
To design eye tracking systems that are:

📱 Scalable

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Human-centered

⚖️ Ethically grounded

💬 Open for dialogue

We’re not just building tech that sees.
We’re building tech that understands and respects.

👋 Want to Collaborate?

We’re actively seeking:

🎮 Game devs

🧑‍⚕️ Health researchers

📊 Data scientists

🧠 Ethicists

Let’s shape the future of cognitive interfaces—together.


 

🚀 Would you like to find out what’s possible?

 

Request free trial    Get in touch

 

Project PRETINA is being funded by