Amazon debuts Eye Gaze accessibility features on the Fire Max 11 tablet
It's also bringing on-screen translations to Alexa calls on its smart displays.
After devoting a chunk of its annual fall event on Wednesday to Alexa upgrades, Amazon announced two new accessibility features coming to its devices later this year. First is Eye Gaze on Alexa, which will let those with mobility or speech disabilities use their gaze to perform a set of preset actions on the Fire Max 11 tablet.
This is the first time Amazon is working on gaze-based navigation of its devices, and it will use the camera on the Max 11 to keep track of where a user is looking. The preset actions include smart home controls, media playback and making calls. Eye Gaze will be available on the Max 11 later this year at no additional cost. The company said during its event that this is "still day one for this technology — we're very excited about its potential." Amazon did not otherwise release any details on how Eye Gaze actually works.
Amazon is also adding a new Call Translation feature that will transcribe Alexa calls on Echo Show devices and display onscreen captions. It can convert them into over 10 languages including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. It will launch later this year on Echo Show devices and the Alexa app for users in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Call captioning is also being expanded to Europe.
Follow all of the news live from Amazon’s 2023 Devices event right here.
