Samsung Galaxy S4 will track eyes to scroll pages

We already know much about the hardware of the Samsung Galaxy S4, but on the software side things are a little fuzzy. Going by its past record, Samsung will likely introduce a newer version of its much-maligned software TouchWiz or the Nature UX. But when it comes to Samsung phones, it’s always the specs sheet that garners the most attention. All that could change with the Galaxy S4.

The new flagship, which will be introduced next week, will have a strong focus on software, according to a New York Times report. The paper spoke to an anonymous Samsung employee who said one particular software trick, Eye scrolling, will be one of the main features of the new phone. The phone will track a user’s eyes to determine where to scroll.

When a user is browsing through a webpage and reaches the bottom of the current screen, the software will automatically scroll down to reveal the portions which were hidden. It does sound like it will add a degree of comfort to reading on smartphones, especially in crowded trains and elevators.

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Alleged image of the Galaxy S4

We have already seen Samsung using its phone’s front-facing camera to track a user’s eyes and keep the screen alive when reading or to adjust the orientation when lying sideways. So this is not entirely new territory for the company.

In January, Samsung had filed for a trademark in Europe for the name ‘Eye Scroll’ and later in the United States in February. The trademark filing described the service as “Computer application software having a feature of sensing eye movements and scrolling displays of mobile devices, namely, mobile phones, smartphones and tablet computers according to eye movements; digital cameras; mobile telephones; smartphones; tablet computers.”

Samsung had also filed for another trademark, ‘Eye Pause,’ but did not describe it in any way. If we had to venture a guess, Eye Pause uses the same tracking technology to pause the video when the user looks away from the screen.

Yesterday, Samsung released its first teaser for the Galaxy S4, showing a young boy receiving a mysterious gift. The video (see below) hints that Samsung may be ready to drop Roman numerals from its naming scheme and may instead go for the more typing-friendly ‘4’.

Granted, it’s not much to go by, but it’s the first official teaser from the company and you can expect more to come in the days leading up to the launch. What do you think of the video? Let us know in the comments below.