Business Advantage

Getting and Upper Hand

 

Tobii EyeX device

In a growing country new technology always leads to new ways of doing business, the trick is to figure out how to apply it. The Tobii EyeX initially released a software development kit to allow businesses the opportunity to find those applications. Fast forward two years and the Tobii system can be found across a handful of industries, the system is now being used to create a competitive advantage within those industries.

Service Industry

The service industry is applying it to enhance services and lock-in customers by allowing people to more efficiently place and confirm their orders. A process that would normally take upwards of five minutes can now complete a customers order in as little as thirty seconds. Applying this software will lead to easy decisions and increase in customer satisfaction. Along with this customers have less time to consider alternative options and they are locked in because of the convenience of the service. The only disadvantage to this application is that the software does not work for a small customer base. If a customer is dieting for example they are restricting what they actually want and he or she may be less inclined to use the service to avoid temptation. Assuming that both enhancing the product and locking in customers has gone as planned the business choosing this path can also look towards raising barriers to market entry in their industry. The new technology would differentiate them from other businesses and eventually cause the technology to be a table stake.

Computing and Gaming

With the same technology it can be used a completely different way in a new industry. The gaming industry is beginning to apply it to differentiate their products. The eye tracking system can be used to navigate and control interfaces; menu systems can be streamlined to a visual display and simply looking at what you want to select. This makes the ability to experience video games available to those with limited dexterous abilities. Video games will become severely more intuitive and open up gaming to a new audience whether it be someone with bodily impairment or is simply on the wrong side of the technological divide. Thankfully this software is not limited to those currently outside of the market for video games, it also applies benefits for existing customers. Eye tracking technology can be used to create more immerse worlds to experience. Playing a video game is a lot like reading a book, but instead of reading about the protagonist you are the protagonist. Just like a book the author wants you to care for and relate to the characters inside, essentially creating the most immerse experience possible. The eye tracking system adds to this by recording where you are looking and activating events based on that information. To simplify this a little bit more say there is a dark corridor on the edge of your screen you’ve neglected to notice, as you gaze over at it before you are allowed to cognitively process it, CRASH a spider jumps out at you. On the other hand say there is a man across the room you met earlier, you look at him and he gives you a wave. These are just a couple of examples of how video games can be changed to create an engaging experience that will keep costumers coming back for more. Even though there are a multitude of uses for the software there is one major disadvantage, the cost of implementation. Thousands of lines of code have to be rendered unusable or required to be converted to the new system. There are however an abundance of uses for the software as stated earlier and it is up to the managers to decide whether or not it is worth it.