Eye on the future? Facebook bets on eye tracking

Facebook Inc. may not be too keen on consumer hardware, but the company is clearly very keen to pursue eye-tracking technology that also allows it to detect emotions. 

While the company may have publicly denied any rumours of its work on eye-tracking tech, the document to the US Congress clearly outlines the company's plans for the technology.

As per media reports, the company reveals that it has looked into building the technology in its services. It was found in the 229-page document Facebook sent to the US Congress in wake of the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal.

"Like many companies, we apply for a wide variety of patents to protect our intellectual property. Right now, we're not building technology to identify people with eye-tracking cameras," according to the document.

"If we implement this technology in the future, we will absolutely do so with people's privacy in mind, just as we do with movement information," it added.

The company has already been awarded two patents titled "Dynamic eye tracking calibration" and "Techniques for emotion detection and content delivery". The company also has face-tracking technology that it currently uses to suggest tags in images.

"Facebook is accused of violating user privacy by collecting data derived from Facebook users' faces in photographs," the report noted.

In new documents, the social networking giant has already admitted that it allows advertisers to target users based on their "interests" and "behaviours".

When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the US Congress in April, he faced several questions from lawmakers. But his in-person testimony left them with several lingering questions. As a result, the company published the document hoping to clear out any confusions that investigators may have.

Zuckerberg has also been called up in Europe to testify, and other nations such as India and Australia are considering investigating the data scandal.

[With inputs from IANS]