Apple has announced a good number of accessibility features that will be dropping on Apple iPad and iPhone “later this year.” Among them, the most interesting feature is the one that lets you control your device with your eyes. As you may have guessed, it utilizes eye-tracking.
This eye-tracking feature is mostly aimed at people with physical disabilities. However, anyone can use it. Under the hood, eye-tracking utilizes AI, and at the initial stage, you will need to go through a short calibration phase. This phase uses the front-facing camera and takes a couple of seconds. Once it’s complete, you will be all good to use this convenient feature on your iPhone or iPad.
There’s no need for any extra hardware, nor will you need to use any accessories. Another thing to note is that eye-tracking on Apple iPhone and iPad will work on every app. You can use it to navigate through every element and Dwell Control to activate elements.
Other New Features Coming to Your iPhone and iPad
Besides the new eye-tracking feature, Apple has announced a good number of new features for iPhone and iPad. Here’s a brief rundown of them:
Gizchina News of the week
Taptic Engine Gets Music Haptics
Apple is introducing a new feature called Music Haptics that uses the iPhone’s vibration motor. It can create rhythmic taps, textures, and pulses in sync with your music. While similar features exist, Music Haptics is exclusive to Apple Music. But developers can integrate this technology into their own apps through an API. This opens doors for more immersive music experiences.
Apple Devices to Get Vehicle Motion Cues
Another interesting addition is Vehicle Motion Cues. This feature aims to combat motion sickness for passengers using iPhones or iPads in moving vehicles. It works by displaying animated dots on the screen that react to changes in vehicle motion. The exact science behind this isn’t yet clear, but it’s a novel approach worth exploring.
Apple CarPlay Gets a Voice-Controlled Boost
CarPlay is getting some love too. New features include Voice Control. It enables hands-free navigation and app control. Sound Recognition alerts deaf users to car horns and sirens, while Color Filters provide better accessibility for colorblind drivers.
