Representing Gaze Direction in Video Communication Using Eye-Shaped Display

A long-standing challenge of video-mediated communication systems is to correctly represent a remote participant's gaze direction in local environments. To address this problem, we developed a video communication system using an "eye-shaped display." This display is made of an artificial ulexite (TV rock) that is cut into a hemispherical shape, enabling the light from the bottom surface to be projected onto the curved surface. By displaying a simulated iris onto the eye-shaped display, we theorize that our system can represent the gaze direction as accurately as a real human eye.