Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Alienware Academy uses Tobii eye tracking to improve your gaming skills

Gabe Gurwin
By
Image used with permission by copyright holder

At CES 2019, Alienware officially opened Alienware Academy — an online competitive gaming training platform — to the public, and with the use of Tobii eye-tracking technology, it has the potential to radically change how players perform in events.

More CES 2019 coverage

Available now in beta form, Alienware Academy features video lessons from the esports experts at Team Liquid and Renegades, as well as professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player Jordan Gilbert.

Recommended Videos

The focus of the lessons at launch is first-person shooters, specifically Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and a “custom challenge map” lets you try out the skills you’re taught in a play environment.

Related

Additionally, Alienware Academy promises to “get into the mind of a skilled competitive gamer,” so you should learn why top players use certain strategies rather than just see them do so.

For those with Tobii eye-tracking technology in their setup, you’ll get additional information through analytics in order to see where you’re looking and any weaknesses in your game that could be caused by your gaze and not your reflexes.

Renegades CS:GO esports organization
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Alienware Academy announcement comes just after Tobii and Alienware revealed the Area-51m laptop, which has Tobii technology built into it by default. On its own, the Tobii Eye Tracker 4C sots $169 and can be used with an existing gaming PC. The device gives you the ability to aim your weapons in a game with just your gaze, control the camera, and perform other special actions. Functionality varies depending on the game you’re playing, but several top AAA titles are supported.

Tobii is also entering the VR space by partnering with HTC on the Vive Pro Eye. The headset has eye tracking built into it, making it unnecessary to use a controller for many functions in games, and it can also be used for businesses making use of a virtual reality program, as well.

Taking lessons for competitive gaming isn’t unheard of, particularly when it comes to Fortnite. Some parents have even begun paying tutors to teach their children how to get better at the game, and seeing as colleges have begun offering esports scholarships, there are worse things they could be spending their money on.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Embracer Group is splitting into 3 companies. Here’s who owns what
Rise of the Tomb Raider

Embracer, the embattled gaming company that went through a massive restructuring over the past year, just announced that it will split up into three different companies: Asmodee, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends.

If you need a refresher, Embracer Group gained a reputation for acquiring gaming IPs and studios, including everything from Borderlands' Gearbox Entertainment to Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics to The Lord of the Rings' rights holder Middle-earth Enterprises. It functioned as one massive company separated into several operating groups. After a deal with Saudi Arabia's Savvy Group fell through last year, Embracer went through a massive period of "restructuring" where it laid thousands of developers off, shut down studios, and sold the likes of Saber Interactive and Gearbox. Now, it seems the saga of Embracer Group is nearing its end, as the company admitted in a press release "that the current Group structure does not create optimal conditions for future value creation both for Embracer Group’s shareholders and other stakeholders."

Read more
Hades 2: release date prediction, trailers, gameplay, and more
Melinoe standing in a stone circle.

Just like Zagreus' never-ending quest to escape the Underworld in Greek mythology, it seems we too are destined to continue fighting through new levels of demons and monsters in the sequel to the amazing roguelike Hades. We're not complaining, as that game was one of the best games released in 2020, and no one expected a sequel at all, let alone one announced so soon. Hades 2 will be the first sequel studio Supergiant Games have ever made, and it makes sense given how successful and popular the first game ended up being. Aside from some notable exceptions like Rogue Legacy 2 and Spelunky 2, not many roguelikes ever get a direct sequel, so there's a lot of mystery surrounding how Hades 2 will be different from the first game. But there's no need to dive into the depths of the Underworld yourself in search of answers, as we've pulled all the information we could from the jaws of Cerberus.
Release date

Hades 2 has no release date quite yet. However, the team has apparently been working on it since early 2021, and, just like the first, will come out first in early access. Supergiant has stated that details about this early access period would be revealed in 2023, however, that does not guarantee it will actually begin in 2023. The first Hades was in early access for almost two years, but we know that a slightly bigger team is working on Hades 2 from the start so this game may hit 1.0 a bit faster.
Platforms

Read more
Tales of the Shire is a The Lord of the Rings-themed take on Stardew Valley
A Hobbit gardens in Tales of the Shire.

Private Division revealed a new game set in the Middle-earth universe called Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game. The title, developed by Wētā Workshop Game Studio, is a cozy life simulator set within the world of the books by J.R.R. Tolkien.

In 2022, No Rest for the Wicked publisher Private Division first teased that it was working on a game based on The Lord of the Rings with Wētā Workshop, the visual effects studio whose initial claim to fame was working on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Wētā Workshop has technically had a game studio since 2014, but Tales of the Shire will be its most significant release yet.

Read more