Samsung Galaxy S IV: Scroll with Your Eyes

The days of repeatedly sliding or tapping your thumb to read longer web pages on a smartphone could be coming to an end. Samsung is reportedly getting ready to debut a phone that you navigate with your eyes.

According to a New York Times report, the feature will debut on Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone, which is expected to become Samsung's highest-profile handset. (Source: nytimes.com)

The feature will reportedly track a user's eyes as they read a lengthy page. Once the phone detects the user is looking at the bottom of the screen, it will automatically scroll the page down to reveal more text.

According to the anonymous Samsung employee that leaked the news, adding the feature didn't require much work on the hardware side. In fact, the employee says the front-facing camera that's used on many phones for video call services (such as Skype) was already sufficient to detect eye movement.

Current Model Already Detects Eye Movements

The New York Times notes the feature simply builds on existing technology. The Galaxy S III already has a feature that detects when the user is looking away from the screen, at which point the phone dims the display to save on battery life.

The challenge for Samsung's new autoscroll feature will be in making sure the screen scrolls in a smooth and responsive manner that doesn't interrupt reading.

The Galaxy S IV is set to get a public unveiling later this month. Hardware specifications are not yet official, though leaked reports indicate that the phone will feature a 1920x1080 resolution screen, Corning Gorilla Glass protection, 2GB RAM, and a quad-core 1.8GHz processor.

Feature May Be Called "Samsung Eye Scroll"

Giving added credibility to the rumor: the company did file to trademark the term "Samsung Eye Scroll" in January 2013. Because it was a trademark rather than a patent, the company didn't detail how the tech worked.

However, it did note the technology could be used in a range of mobile devices, including tablet computers and digital cameras. (Source: markify.com)

Another application is called "Eye Pause," though at the moment little is known about the term or the technology.