Volkswagen Patents Controversial Eye Tracking Tech to Replace Buttons in Cars

Multiple automakers have started to realise that drivers do not like how touchscreens and touch surfaces have replaced many physical buttons in cars, but Volkswagen seems to be working on an alternative that has already ignited a whole new controversy. A recently surfaced patent shows that the company has considered developing an eye-tracking system that could completely change the way drivers control essential car features, potentially replacing buttons altogether.

While it’s not certain that this tech will ever make it to a production car, it shows that Volkswagen is still thinking about how drivers interface with their cars, and how increasing complexity could be managed in the future. The patent was filed with the German Patent and Trademark Office last year, but has only now come to light thanks to a report by Motor1.

The system envisages a single, universal selection control in the form of a joystick on the steering wheel that can be moved, pressed and turned in multiple ways to confirm what a user wants to do. Its function will be determined by eye tracking sensors identifying what the driver is looking at, for example windshield wipers, wing mirrors, music, and even power windows. 

The application describes how multiple steps are currently required to adjust the many “functional devices” in today’s car, often through multiple submenus in a graphical display. Many of these devices are outside the driver’s typical field of view. Additionally, drivers have to deal with multiple similar buttons, knobs, sliders, etc for different functions. 

Volkswagen imagines the use of voice commands in conjunction with the eye tracking feature, to let drivers determine what function they want to control and then how it is to be adjusted. In the future, additional control modes could be developed, with the patent application document specifically naming holographic technology as a possibility.

The patent text also says such a control scheme could be used on trucks, boats, and aircraft in addition to passenger cars. There would preferably be mechanisms such as gesture detection to confirm what the driver is looking at, and the amount of time a driver’s eye spends looking at a functional device. 

Reactions online have been largely negative, as it is not clear how such a system would be less complicated than just having buttons, and the learning curve appears to be steep. It also seems as though having to look towards AC vents and seats would be distracting for drivers. A real-world prototype would have to be developed for people to understand how such a system would work in terms of detection accuracy and reaction time.