Hacksmith Shows How You Can Shoot Lasers With Eye Tracking

Hacksmith Industries, a content channel renowned for its engineering work and for turning fictional ideas into real-life working prototypes, is shocking viewers once again with their latest invention.

Inspired by one of DC Comics' most iconic superheroes, Superman, the men behind Hacksmith have risen to the challenge of developing their very own heat vision technology, controlled with eye-tracking glasses.

"The cool thing about Superman is he can precisely aim his lasers using his eyes, not just radiate energy wherever his head is pointed," they explained.

The eyewear, which makes use of custom Python software, allows the user to shoot lasers out of two laser cubes mounted on his shoulders, to fire at wherever he is looking.

Additionally, the glasses were developed by AdHawk, an eyewear company that specializes in developing eye-tracking glasses to be used at the forefront of AR/VR, gaming and medical industries.

How Does This Tech Work? 

In developing the lasers, Hacksmith's James Hobson had the AdHawk glasses calibrate to his eyes, which compares the IMU in the glasses to where he was looking.

To test out the calibration, Hobson laid out several objects for him to look at to find out how close the glasses were to tracking his gaze.

After a series of tests of looking at inanimate objects, Hobson moved on to test how accurate the glasses were in tracking his sight on moving objects.

Once the calibration was all set, the team began looking for the ideal laser pointer for the project. Here, they used Wicked Lasers and the Laser Cube — a 2.5-watt laser projector that even can pop balloons. 

At this point, they had to write code with the use of Python to trigger the lasers to shoot on command.

Hobson tested out their new creation by shooting at a line of balloons, lighting several matches laid in front of him, and piercing through cardboard just from looking at them.

"This is the most fun I've had with a project in a long time," Hobson shared. "Shooting lasers with your eyes... I wouldn't say it was a childhood dream, but it was pretty satisfying."