Experience Revolutionary Eye-controlled App Navigation with the Honor Magic 6

During Qualcomm’s 2023 Snapdragon Summit, Honor CEO George Zhao unveiled the Honor 6 flagship smartphone, which generated enormous buzz due to its integration of generative AI capabilities. However, the most surprising feature of the Honor 6 is its ability to be controlled through eye movement. While privacy concerns have been raised, it’s an intriguing concept.

During the keynote, a demonstration showcased a woman using her gaze to interact with the device. By simply redirecting her eyes, she was able to access and expand an app displayed on the screen. This functionality has been named Magic Capsule by Honor and is referred to as “eye-tracking based multimodal interaction,” offering a more comprehensive description of the feature.

In addition to the eye-tracking functionality, the upcoming Magic 6 will feature a virtual assistant powered by Qualcomm’s on-device AI technology. This assistant will be capable of performing tasks such as finding and organizing videos on the device based on specific criteria and creating a new video highlight from the selected clips. Expect to see more advancements in this area as the Snapdragon Summit focuses on AI. Interestingly, 5G was not mentioned until 15 minutes into the keynote.

The functionality and usability of Magic Capsule remain uncertain. The demo video showcased during the keynote may not accurately represent real-world performance, and there may be potential frustrations associated with this feature. The term “multi-modal” suggests that gaze control is just one aspect of the system and may need to be combined with other gestures for reliable functioning. Furthermore, the question of whether users are comfortable with their phones tracking their gaze is significant, especially considering that Honor is a state-backed company.

Nevertheless, it’s refreshing to see smartphone manufacturers exploring new ways to interact with our devices that go beyond AI chatbots. Eye-tracking technology could have significant accessibility benefits and is not an entirely groundbreaking concept, as evidenced by the Canon EOS R3’s eye control autofocus system. It may prove useful in situations where users have their hands occupied, a need that Apple also seems to recognize.

Honor has not specified a release date for the Magic 6, but Qualcomm has announced that phones featuring their new flagship chipset will hit the market in the coming weeks.