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.”

 

 

 

⚖️ 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