Alienware launches a laptop that wakes when it sees your eyes

Alienware is launching a new line of gaming laptops today with Nvidia’s newest Pascal-based graphics chips. And the 17-inch model has an option to use Tobii’s eye-tracking camera, which allows you to control a game using your eye gazes. You can even wake up the laptop by staring at it.

All told, Alienware will launch three laptops: a 17-inch, 15-inch, and 13-inch.

Above: Alienware 17

Image Credit: Alienware

The Alienware 17 includes both eye-tracking hardware and software from Tobii, allowing for better security as well as insights about a gamer’s style and technique. The features include “wake on gaze,” which brings the notebook out of sleep mode when the user looks at the Alienware logo. And when the user is looking at the screen, the keyboard backlights remain off. Keys are illuminated only in the region that the user is looking, allowing for better power management.

And when the user steps away from the device, the security measures go into effect and lock the laptop. During game replays, you can also see the areas where you gazed at the screen highlighted. This helps you get better situational awareness of where you gaze during the action — and where you should be gazing as well.

The new Alienware 15 and 17 systems will available to order starting on September 30. The Alienware 13 will come in November and more details will be available later.

Chris Sutphen, senior marketing manager at Alienware, said in an interview that the refresh of the laptops is based on the Nvidia graphics update. The Alienware 13 gets the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060. The Alienware 15 will use the GTX 1070, and the Alienware 17 will use the GTX 1080. All of the laptops are designed to be VR ready, so that they will all run virtual reality applications. The entire family gets up to 85 percent better performance than the previous generation of Alienware laptops.

“With Tobii, the thing that got us interested is idea of the gaming coach,” Sutphen said. “Tracking of your eyes can be used as analytics to help you play your games better.”

Alienware is showing the new machines at the PAX West show in Seattle.

“Gaming is in a time of renaissance right now; awesome games and development, amazing resolutions and technology, plus the pure excitement around VR experiences – it’s an incredible driving force and it feels similar to the energy that started Alienware 20 years ago,” said Frank Azor, general manager of Alienware and XPS, Dell, in a statement. “These new notebooks are a product of that history and approach, but also of the demands and expectations of gamers today. Being true to both is what Alienware is about and we’re proud to bring these notebooks to gamers.”

The Alienware 17 flagship notebook gains more power with overclocked Intel Core i7 k-series processors and DDR4 memory running up to 2,667 Mhz. Pricing details will be out later. The new mid-size Alienware 15 is for gamers that want the best of both worlds: compact size and performance. With more power in a thinner frame, it comes with graphics options from both AMD and Nvidia.

It has a 15.6-inch FHD, IPS Anti-Glare, 300-nits (a unit of brightness) display, and additional options include FHD (full high definition) 120Hz display with Nvidia G-Sync for smooth, synchronized frame rates and UHD(ultra high definition) IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) display for 4K resolutions.