Seeing is believing

A system that will allow participants in virtual conferences to express and interpret non-verbal communication is being developed by an academic/industry consortium, led by

Centre for Virtual Environments.

Much subtle conscious and subconscious communication during social interaction is provided by eye-gaze. But an ability to see a person's eyes and the direction in which they are looking is not currently supported by video screen technology.

The universities of Salford,

and

, with help from psychologists from

aim to build the world's first tele-collaboration system that supports realistic two and three- way communicational eye-gaze without restricting the gaze direction of participants. Industry partners include

(Silicon Graphics), Visual Acuity,

and

.

The resulting system will integrate eye-tracking technologies into Immersive Projection Technology (IPT) displays, and develop the software necessary to build a consistent collaborative virtual environment where each participant can see the other and accurately track their eye-gaze.