Back in October, I reported on Honor’s Apple Vision Pro-style eye-tracking technology, which had just been teased in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it segment at Qualcomm’s annual Snapdragon Summit. At the time, Honor used a series of animations to demonstrate how and why this eye-tracking tech might be used, but at MWC 2024, I was able to get hands-on (or eyes-on?) with this decidedly Blade Runner-esque smartphone feature.
Billed as an imminent upgrade for the newly announced Honor Magic 6 Pro flagship, this eye-tracking tech is tucked away inside the phone’s Magic Capsule digital pop-up, which is essentially Honor’s take on Apple’s Dynamic Island.
By leveraging the Magic 6 Pro’s front-facing camera tech and facial recognition smarts, Magic Capsule is able to recognize the users’ eyes and draw navigational information from the direction of their gaze. I took the feature for a spin at MWC 2024, where I was able to answer a phone call using nothing but my eyes. Check it out in the TikTok below:
@techradar
♬ missedcalls (sped up) – Kudasaibeats & sped up
Pretty neat, right? Honor says this eye-tracking tech has myriad applications – it’s already been used to start and physically move a car, for instance – however its functionality on the Magic 6 Pro is likely to remain limited to more mundane Magic Capsule apps like Timer, Alarm and Call.
Indeed, certain app-based eye-tracking functions have already begun rolling out on Chinese versions of the Honor Magic 6 Pro, with international versions of the device – which are set to begin shipping from March 8 – confirmed to receive eye-tracking “in the future.”
Of course, eye-based UI control isn’t a totally new technology. As alluded to earlier, Apple has implemented an innovative eye and hand-tracking navigation system on its Vision Pro headset, which TechRadar’s Lance Ulanoff described in his Apple Vision Pro review as “a control experience unmatched in the mixed-reality space.”
Until now, though, eye tracking hasn’t been seen on a smartphone. And while you’ll still need to pay handsomely for the privilege of having this technology in your pocket – the Honor Magic 6 Pro retails for a hefty £1,099.99 in the UK (availability elsewhere looks unlikely) – it’s clear that you don’t need to spend quite as much as the $3,499 that the Vision Pro will set you back to own a piece of the hands-free future.