FocusFlow: Leveraging Focal Depth for Gaze Interaction in Virtual Reality

TL;DR

FocusFlow introduces a gaze interaction method for VR that incorporates focal depth, enabling users to intuitively switch UI layers and interact more naturally by adjusting their focus along the depth dimension.

Contribution

It presents a novel focal depth detection algorithm and a layer-based UI that leverages depth changes for hands-free interaction in VR.

Findings

Preliminary evaluations show good usability.

Focal depth integration enhances interaction intuitiveness.

Potential applications discussed.

Abstract

Current gaze input methods for VR headsets predominantly utilize the gaze ray as a pointing cursor, often neglecting depth information in it. This study introduces FocusFlow, a novel gaze interaction technique that integrates focal depth into gaze input dimensions, facilitating users to actively shift their focus along the depth dimension for interaction. A detection algorithm to identify the user's focal depth is developed. Based on this, a layer-based UI is proposed, which uses focal depth changes to enable layer switch operations, offering an intuitive hands-free selection method. We also designed visual cues to guide users to adjust focal depth accurately and get familiar with the interaction process. Preliminary evaluations demonstrate the system's usability, and several potential applications are discussed. Through FocusFlow, we aim to enrich the input dimensions of gaze interaction, achieving more intuitive and efficient human-computer interactions on headset devices.