UC Santa Cruz

People with low vision often use screen magnification software. Screen magnification requires continuous control of the onscreen content by moving the focus of magnification with the mouse or the trackpad. In this contribution, we explore the possibility of controlling the focus of magnification by means of the user’s own eye gaze, which is measured by a commercial gaze tracker. We conducted two small experimental studies with individuals with impaired central vision, who used two screen magnification modalities to read two different types of documents. In the first study, mouse tracks and gaze point tracks were collected during manual control for later analysis. In the second study, the center of magnification was controlled by the user's own gaze, using two different control mechanisms. This preliminary study highlights the potentials and shortcomings of gaze-contingent screen magnification control for easier access of onscreen content with low vision.