Apple has announced a series of new accessibility features- eye tracking

Geoff Cook

Apple has announced a series of new accessibility features- eye-tracking

Apple has announced a series of new accessibility features for iPhones and iPads, with the standout addition being eye-tracking technology. This feature will allow users to control their devices using just their eyes, leveraging the front-facing camera and on-device machine learning. Designed primarily for users with physical disabilities, eye tracking will enable navigation across iOS and iPadOS, including third-party apps, without the need for additional hardware or apps.

Other notable features include:

1. Music Haptics: This feature uses the iPhone’s Taptic Engine to create vibrations and taps in sync with music, allowing deaf and hard-of-hearing users to experience music through touch. Initially available on Apple Music, it will also be accessible to third-party developers via an API.
2. Vocal Shortcuts: Users can create custom voice commands for Siri, enabling tasks to be performed with personalized phrases. This could streamline interactions by allowing phrases like “show me the news” to open specific apps without mentioning Siri.
3. Vehicle Motion Cues: This feature, which is intended to reduce motion sickness, displays animated dots at the screen's edges to help users adjust to a vehicle's motion. It can be turned on manually or set to activate automatically when movement is detected.
4. CarPlay and VisionOS Enhancements: Additional accessibility options for CarPlay include Voice Control, Color Filters, and Sound Recognition, while VisionPro will feature Live Captions for FaceTime and other tools to aid communication.

It's good to see major brand's continued commitment to accessibility, ensuring that their devices are usable by everyone, including those with disabilities.

I'm curious about what accessibility features Android offers. To be honest, there are quite a few general features that I wish Apple would include in their tech.