Denis Cohen-Tannoudji Outlines Essilor’s Eye Tracking Efforts
To find out more about Essilor’s interest in AdHawk’s eye tracking technology, I spoke with Denis Cohen-Tannoudji, senior vice president smart vision solutions, Essilor International.

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| Denis Cohen-Tannoudji
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| | “The eye tracker is potentially an important technology to incorporate into smart glasses,” said Cohen-Tannoudji. “And, of course, smart glasses is a subject of interest for EssilorLuxottica.” In September 2020, the company announced a collaboration with Facebook that is expected to culminate in the launch of Ray-Ban smart glass this year.
Cohen-Tannoudji said eye tracking might also be incorporated into optometry instrumentation. He explained, “Typically, if we want to capture some data in an optical shop using a tablet or other device, we could use eye tracking in a specific way to measure some important parameters for dispensing customized lenses. This is the main reason why we think eye tracking is an important technology, and why we invested in AdHawk.”
Essilor is also studying other potential applications for eye tracking. “We have an R&D team in Paris that is working on neurovision science and optometry, so eye tracking is an object of interest for all of our eye-brain research,” said Cohen-Tannoudji. “To give you an example, we have sponsored an academic chair at the Paris University focusing on the aging of the visual system. It’s called Silversight. Some of their research involves eye tracking.”
As an aid to researchers, AdHawk has released the AdHawk MindLink kit, which it is offering at a discounted price of $3,500 until April 30, 2021 (after that, the kit will cost $10,000.) To pre-register for a kit, visit: https://adhawkmicrosystems.com/order. Kits are expected to ship within six to eight weeks of the presale closing date. Cohen-Tannoudji said Essilor is supplying a set of lenses of various powers to go with the kit.
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