Apple has announced new accessibility features, including Eye Tracking, a way for users with physical disabilities to control iPad or iPhone with their eyes. Check all details here.
With Apple's recent announcement of accessibility enhancements, people with physical limitations may now manage their iPad or iPhone with their eyes thanks to a technology called Eye Tracking. Additionally, the iPhone's Taptic Engine will be used by the Music Haptics feature to provide a new method for people who are hard of hearing or deaf to experience music.
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, stated, "We firmly believe in the transformative power of innovation to enrich lives. Because of this, Apple has supported inclusive design for almost 40 years, putting accessibility at the centre of both our hardware and software."
With on-device machine learning, Eye Tracking—a feature designed for people with physical disabilities—can be quickly set up and calibrated using the front-facing camera. All of the data needed to set up and use this function is safely stored on the device and isn't shared with Apple. According to Apple, Eye Tracking is compatible with both iPadOS and iOS apps and doesn't require any extra hardware or accessories.
Other features include Vocal Shortcuts, which will allow users to perform tasks by making a custom sound. For those who suffer from motion sicknesss, there’s Vehicle Motion Cues which can help reduce motion sickness when using iPhone or iPad in a moving vehicle.
With Vehicle Motion Cues, animated dots on the edges of the screen represent changes in vehicle motion to help reduce sensory conflict without interfering with the main content. Using sensors built into iPhone and iPad, Vehicle Motion Cues recognises when a user is in a moving vehicle and responds accordingly. The feature can be set to show automatically on iPhone, or can be turned on and off in Control Center.