Google awarded patent for using eye tracking to detect expressions in VR

Google Glass may not have been the smash hit that Google would have wanted, but that doesn’t mean that the company isn’t working on building better augmented and virtual reality technology. In fact, Google was just awarded a patent for a way to track facial expressions through eye-tracking cameras, something that could be significantly helpful in creating immersive VR experiences.The patent is called “Classifying Facial Expressions Using Eye-Tracking Cameras,” and essentially has to do with using a machine learning algorithm, coupled with eye-tracking sensors, to infer the expressions that users have on their faces. The patent goes on to describe users being able to interact with each other in a virtual world through avatars, which would look like the user, and, with this tech, have their facial expressions, too.As the patent notes, because of the fact that virtual reality headsets tend to obscure the user’s face, it can be difficult to tell what the user’s facial expression is when they’re wearing one. A machine learning algorithm, however, could be trained to learn expressions related to anger, happiness, surprise, and so on. It could also be trained to identify things like the brow lowering, lip raising, and more.