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Using System Sensor EyeControl - step-by-step guide

The complete user guide: 12 function buttons, window docking, web and Communicators subpages, navigating pages with your eyes using the arrow keys, caregiver alarm, settings.

🆕 What's new - update 03.09.2026

The installer has changed:

  • You choose what gets installed. On the first screen you tick the System Sensor programs. The On-Screen Keyboard is ticked from the start - whoever controls the computer with their eyes cannot write a word without it. PIC and Y are one click away.
  • The keyboard is no longer packed into the installer but downloaded from the website during installation, so you always get its newest version. An internet connection is needed.
  • The signature is checked. Every downloaded file must carry the System Sensor signature, otherwise the installer will not run it.
  • Tobii drivers stay inside the installer - installing the eye tracker works exactly as before.

Update 02.09.2026 - the second magnifier and the on-screen keyboard

The biggest news: the installer now brings the System Sensor On-Screen Keyboard.

  • ⌨️ On-Screen Keyboard included. EyeControl can work on its own, without the PIC program - and then the keyboard is the only way to write anything. It docks to the top or bottom edge of the screen, suggests whole words, and even the whole next word before you press a single letter. It also has ready-made phrases - full sentences with one click. You can skip the installation by unchecking it in the wizard.
  • 🔑 The keyboard needs no separate key when EyeControl has a valid license. The same applies to a PIC or Y license, and to a control unit connected to the computer.

From the previous update (27.08.2026): The biggest addition is a second magnifier, simpler than the existing one:

  • 🔍 Magnifier 2 - simple. Rest your gaze anywhere, a magnified photo of that spot appears in the middle of the screen, look at the target - the magnifier disappears and clicks. No ring of icons and no action to choose. It has its own button on the bar (a magnifier in a rectangular frame) and its own tab in Settings. Details in point 2.1.
  • 🖐️ The magnifier gets out of the way when it would be in it. It switches itself off when you need to click the program's red warning, or when you turn on the on-screen keyboard from the bar - previously it covered the button or the keys. You turn it back on when you are done.
  • 🔔 An alarm when the screen goes dark. When Windows asks for permission to run a program, it does so on its own dimmed screen - eye control does not work there and nothing can be clicked. The program now recognises that situation and after a few seconds raises the caregiver alarm, repeated every 20 seconds. Once the screen is back to normal, it explains what happened.
  • ⚠️ A warning before updating. The window with a new version now says plainly that the screen will go dark during the install and that a mouse or a carer will be needed. If nobody is around, you can choose „Not now" and come back to it later.
  • 📋 Drop-down menus no longer close while the magnifier clicks. A menu in the browser used to close by itself before the magnifier managed to click it.

Earlier, 22.08.2026 - Licences

The main change concerned the licence, the second one the window that reminds you to sit properly in front of the monitor:

  • 🔑 The licence renews itself. Once your licence is extended, the program picks up the new date by itself at start-up - there is nothing to type or click. Previously the key had to be entered again after every extension, which with monthly licences came back every month.
  • 🌐 No internet does not cut the program off. If the licence has just run out and the computer has no connection, the program keeps working normally for another week and keeps trying to connect during that time. Only when the server states outright that the licence has not been extended does the program switch to DEMO mode. The Licence tab in Settings then shows how long the program will still work.
  • ⚡ After entering the key the program works straight away - no restart needed.
  • 💬 Messages disappear on their own. They used to wait for an OK button to be clicked, and someone who controls the computer with their eyes only might have nothing to click with - so the program simply stood still. A message now appears in the middle of the screen, counts down and closes itself.
  • 🎛️ A sensitivity slider for the position reminder. In Settings you can set how far you may move before the program reminds you about your position. The frame in the preview grows together with the slider, so you can see what changes.
  • 🟠 The reminder window now shows two frames and three dot colours - you can see the boundary at which the program speaks up. An orange dot pauses the countdown instead of resetting it, which matters for people with involuntary movements.
  • 👀 The program also reminds you about your position when the device cannot see your eyes for 5 seconds, and blinking no longer makes the caption flicker.
  • 🔑 The program warns you before it cuts you off. When the licence has expired and the computer has no internet connection, the program now states how many days are left. Previously it said nothing until the moment it switched to DEMO mode, a week later.

Even earlier, 21.08.2026 - Fine-tuning

The changes concern Fine-tuning - the short calibration inside the program itself, the one that improves cursor accuracy:

  • 🎯 Fine-tuning now uses 13 dots instead of 9. The four extra ones sit between the centre and the corners - exactly where the correction used to be weakest. All the dots stand closer to the edges of the screen, so the correction reaches further into the corners. Looking at a single dot is shorter - 2 seconds instead of 3 - so the whole thing takes roughly as long as before, despite the four extra dots.
  • 🔁 The program repeats a dot when your gaze wanders off or when the device loses the eye. A caption next to the dot then explains that the same dot is being shown a second time. Previously such a dot simply went into the result and spoiled accuracy across the whole screen. Every dot is repeated at most once, so Fine-tuning always finishes.
  • ⚙️ The program picks the type of correction by itself. For some people the reading only needs shifting, for others it is bent and needs straightening. The program measures both and keeps whichever comes out better - the differences between people and between devices can be considerable.
  • ✅ The accuracy check after Fine-tuning now tests what you see as the cursor. The five-dot screen shown at the end used to look, with a Tobii device, at the reading from before the correction - so it could not detect a badly performed Fine-tuning. It now checks exactly what the cursor is driven by.

💡 The program checks for updates on start - if you are running an older version, it will offer to download the new one.

🧭 What this page is about

A page for people who have already installed System Sensor EyeControl and want to learn all the program's features. Step by step we cover: first launch, the 12 function buttons of the main window, the docked bar on the right with its subpages (Web, Communicators, Navigation, Sound), Cinema mode, the on-screen keyboard, the caregiver alarm and settings.

📥 Don't have EyeControl installed yet? Start with installing the program and the Tobii driver: Installing EyeControl + Tobii step by step →

From this page you will learn how to:

👁️ What you control with your eyes after launching: all of Windows, training and rehabilitation boards, web applications (PIC 2.0, Mouse+Keyboard) and the System Sensor PIC program. You will find the full guide with a gallery of boards and Windows configuration for eye control (cursor, scaling, Snap Assist, touch keyboard, dictation) on a separate page: EyeControl use cases →

1. First launch of System Sensor EyeControl

Double-click the System Sensor EyeControl icon on the desktop. The application window opens in the center of the screen - you will see:

👁️ Position in front of the screen (new in 14.08.2026)

Right after the program starts, once the session is running, a window called Position in front of the screen appears in the middle of the display. It shows two dots - the left and the right eye - against a green target frame, plus a distance scale with the good range marked on it. The carer moves the laptop or the chair so that both eyes land inside the frame and the distance marker sits in the green band. Below it says plainly: too close, too far or ✔ Position is good.

The window closes by itself after the time you set (5 seconds by default), but the countdown only runs while the position is good - both eyes inside the green frame and the distance marker in the green band. If the position gets worse or the program loses sight of the eyes, the countdown starts again, so the window never disappears over badly positioned equipment. You can also close it at once with the Done button: by clicking it or by looking at it for a moment. The button has its own countdown, so it can be "clicked" by gaze even while cursor control is still paused - and at the first launch the program deliberately starts paused.

The same window appears by itself during work, whenever you clearly move out of position - see point 3. The time set with the slider applies to both cases: at startup and during work.

💡 This preview used to live only in the calibration window - to position the equipment you had to enter calibration and leave it again. The window appears with a Tobii eye tracker; a webcam does not report eye position. You can turn it off, and change the time, in Settings → Detection (point 3).

Windows desktop with the System Sensor EyeControl icon

Icon on the desktop

EyeControl - application window, Tobii stopped, green Start button

Before starting

EyeControl - application window, Tobii active, START-F4 banner

After launching

1.1. Main window - 12 function buttons

The button bar at the bottom of the main window gives quick access to all the key EyeControl features. Click any icon below to see it enlarged.

1.2. Docking mode - a bar at the chosen edge

After you turn on docking (the "Docking" button in the main window or the "Window docking" dropdown in Settings → Control), the entire EyeControl window hides and in its place a bar at the chosen edge of the screen appears - right, left, top or bottom. Other maximized applications adjust themselves to the available area (Windows AppBar - just like the taskbar).

Clicking the "Docking" button in the main window cyclically moves the bar: Center (floating window) → Right edge → Bottom → Left → Top → Center and so on in a loop. The current position is remembered - after being restarted the program returns to the last chosen edge. The cycle is also available from the bar (the Docking button in the vertical/horizontal bar) - you jump to the next edge without going back to the center.

Docking - window in the center of the screen

Center - floating window

Docking - bar at the right edge

Right - vertical bar on the right

Docking - bar at the bottom of the screen

Bottom - horizontal bar at the bottom

Docking - bar at the left edge

Left - vertical bar on the left

Docking - bar at the top of the screen

Top - horizontal bar at the top

The bar contains 12 buttons - 9 function buttons (the same as in the main window, without Session, Cinema mode and the Alarm) and 3 navigation buttons, which switch the bar's view to subpages with shortcuts:

Each subpage (Web, Communicators, Navigation) has a Pause/Play button at the very top (eye control - synchronized with the main button) and a second Home button (return to the bar's main page). The pattern is consistent with the boards in System Sensor Y.

👁️ Docking mode is essential for people with ALS who use EyeControl as their main tool - the bar does not cover the work screen, it is always at hand (or rather within sight) and all functions are available with a single click of the eyes.

1.3. Web subpage - shortcuts to websites

Clicking any button opens the page in the default Windows browser. The list and addresses are the same as the cards in System Sensor Y, for a consistent user experience.

1.4. Communicators subpage

Shortcuts to the most frequently used social communicators. Some open as a Windows system application (UWP), some in the browser.

1.5. Navigation subpage - controlling the page with your eyes

The third subpage of the docked bar (the 4-arrow icon from MainPage). It lets you scroll and zoom a website with your eyes after opening it, without physically touching the keyboard - essential for people with ALS who do not have a functional hand. No auto-return - click multiple times in a row until you go back with Home.

👁️ The keyboard shortcuts sent by Navigation are configurable - in Settings → Control → Page navigation you set how many times the key is sent per click (a larger value = a larger jump).

1.6. Sound subpage - volume and alarm

The fourth subpage of the bar (the speaker icon on the main page). It controls the volume of the whole Windows system, so it works the same for a film on YouTube, for music and for notifications. On every change Windows shows its own level indicator, so you can see the effect straight away. No auto-return - click as many times as you need, then go back with Home.

🔊 You set the volume step yourself - in Settings → Control → Volume a slider from 2% to 20% per click. Mute works with a single click regardless of this setting.

1.7. Settings subpage - the wrench and closing windows

The fifth subpage of the bar, opened with the wrench on the main page. The wrench used to open the Settings window directly; now it first goes here, so that there is room for further functions - there are four of them today, and the subpage holds eight. No auto-return: go back with the Home button when you are done.

🔒 Closing EyeControl itself is protected too. Clicking the cross on the title bar (or Alt+F4 on the program window) shows a question warning you that after closing, gaze control will stop working, and the program can only be started again with a mouse or with help from another person. The Ctrl+Shift+F4 shortcut still exits without asking.

2. Precision magnifier and its menu

🆕 Aiming in the magnifier works differently than it used to. Previously the image stayed still and the arrows moved the crosshair over it - you could only pick what the magnifier showed straight away. Today it is the other way round, and easier:

Arrow step and magnification are yours to set - see point 3, the Magnifier tab.

💡 If you use a mouse, a left click on a menu icon does the same as resting your gaze on it - only straight away, without the countdown.

The precision magnifier with a radial action menu and nudging arrows

This is what the magnifier looks like after you hold your gaze: the zoom in the middle, the crosshair marking where the click will land, the action menu around it and - furthest out - the arrows that nudge the image.

The precision magnifier is a special mode for situations where you need more precise control than a regular dwell click - for example small icons, tightly packed buttons, clicking the browser's address field next to the tab close button. Turn it on with the 🔍 Magnifier icon in the main window or in the docked bar (the button with the magnifier icon).

How it works

After turning on the Magnifier you look at a chosen spot on the screen. After a short gaze hold (1 second), two elements appear together in the center of the screen:

Look at the chosen menu icon for 1 second - the action is performed at the point you were originally looking at (not at the location of the menu icon). The magnifier and menu disappear, the cursor returns to normal gaze tracking, the Magnifier stays on - the next gaze hold reopens the magnifier and menu.

5 actions + ✕ cancel

💡 Cancelling the radial menu does not turn off Magnifier mode - the 🔍 button in the main window is still active, the next gaze hold in a new spot reopens the magnifier and menu. The Magnifier is only turned off by clicking the 🔍 button again or the F4 shortcut.

The panel of 5 buttons - only with the Windows keyboard

The Windows on-screen keyboard with a panel of five control buttons on the left

The Windows keyboard panel - it appears together with that keyboard at the left edge of the screen. You pick each button by resting your gaze on it, and the keyboard moves up or down so that it does not cover the field you are typing into.

🔑 This panel belongs to the Windows keyboard. It was built for it, because that keyboard can neither move itself nor close itself. The System Sensor On-Screen Keyboard has its own close button and its own edge arrows, so no panel appears with it - and none is needed.

When you work with the Windows keyboard (osk.exe), opening it - from the magnifier menu or with the button in the main window - brings up a vertical panel of 5 round buttons at the left edge of the screen:

Moving the keyboard is useful when the keyboard overlaps the field where you want to type (a form, a search box, an editor).

Choosing where to type with your eyes (text cursor in an input field)

When the keyboard is open, you can set the text cursor with a gaze hold in any field on the screen - a form on a website, a search box, a text editor, a communicator. Holding your gaze outside the keyboard (and, with the Windows keyboard, outside the 5-button panel) performs a left click, which places the text cursor at that spot. Then look at the keyboard keys to type letters - the characters appear in the chosen field.

The Magnifier ↔ double-click relationship

The precision magnifier and double left-click mode are mutually exclusive. When you turn on the Magnifier, the "double click" button in the main window and the docked bar is grayed out (not clickable), and the double-click mode itself is turned off. The Magnifier has its own double left-click button in the radial menu - a double click with the eyes is available more precisely (at a specific gaze fixation point).

Exiting the Magnifier

The Magnifier stays on until:

🎯 The crosshair and nudging with arrows

In the middle of the magnifier there is a yellow crosshair - that is the spot the chosen action will land on. The crosshair itself never moves: the image slides under it when you click by gaze inside the circle. That way you can reach any place on the screen.

Gaze alone can be too imprecise for small elements, so the magnifier is surrounded by four arrows: up, down, left and right. Resting your gaze on an arrow moves the image by one small step (4 points by default). Keep looking and it keeps going, step by step. Once your target sits exactly under the crosshair, pick an action from the ring of icons (single click, double click, right click) - the click lands on the crosshair, not on wherever you happen to be looking.

💡 This is how precision mode works in Windows - you point roughly first, then fine-tune.

2.1. Magnifier 2 - simple (new)

The existing magnifier is powerful, but it is not simple: before you point at the target you still have to choose an action from the ring of icons. Magnifier 2 reverses the order - you look, it zooms in, you click, it disappears. It was made for people for whom what matters most is that the handling stays dead simple.

🔍 How it works - three steps

  1. Rest your gaze anywhere on the screen.
  2. A rectangular window with a magnified photo of that spot appears in the middle of the screen.
  3. Rest your gaze on what you want to click - the window disappears and the click lands in the right place.

Why the image does not move

What you see in the magnifier is a photo taken at the moment you rested your gaze, not a live preview. Nothing can slip away from under your eyes while you aim. If something on the screen changes in the meantime, you will see it once the magnifier closes.

How to leave without clicking

Simply look away from the magnifier window for a moment - after about a second and a half it disappears and nothing is clicked. There is no small cross or close button to hit, because a person controlling the computer with their eyes alone cannot always reach such a small target.

The yellow frame - what you will hit

When your gaze lands on a button, a link or a text field, a yellow frame outlines it inside the magnified image. That means the click will land exactly on that element even if you are looking slightly beside it. No frame means the magnifier will click the exact point you are looking at.

Settings - the „Magnifier 2 - simple" tab

This magnifier has its own tab in Settings so that its sliders do not mix with the existing one:

#SettingDefaultWhat it changes
1Type of clickdouble By default the magnifier clicks twice, because with a single click you often cannot tell whether it worked - the icon only gets selected and nothing opens. If you use the magnifier mainly for buttons and websites, switch to single: a double click can run a button twice or select a word in a text field.
2How many times to magnify4× A higher value means bigger letters and easier aiming, but the magnifier window grows. If it would not fit on the screen, the program reduces the magnification by itself.
3Width of the captured area300 How wide a piece of the screen the magnifier takes. Less means more precise, but you have to aim more accurately for the target to land inside the magnifier at all.
4Height of the captured area200 The same vertically. Buttons and labels are usually wider than they are tall, so this number can be smaller than the width.

When the magnifier switches itself off

Both magnifiers switch themselves off in situations where they would cover something important:

In both cases the magnifier does not come back on its own - you turn it on again with its button when you are done. It lights up when you want it to, not at the moment you happen to be aiming at something else.

Two magnifiers do not work at once

Both magnifiers intercept the same thing - the end of a gaze hold - so only one works at a time. Turning one on switches the other off, and the double click button is disabled with either of them, because the type of click is chosen by the magnifier itself.

3. EyeControl settings

⭐ The My buttons tab - this is where the M1 and M2 buttons from the Settings subpage (point 1.7) come to life. It was added at the request of people using the program who wanted their own pages within reach.
  • Page address - type it or paste it. A short form is fine, for example wp.pl - the program adds https:// by itself. An empty field means the button stays greyed out and does nothing.
  • A picture of your own (optional) - the Choose a picture... button opens an ordinary file dialog (PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF). Without a picture the button simply reads M1 or M2. A square image looks best; the program fits it to the button, and both the caption and the image grow together with the button size setting.
  • The preview next to the field shows exactly what will appear on the bar, so you see the result without closing the window.

🔒 The chosen image is copied into the program folder, so the button keeps working even if the original is moved or deleted from the desktop. The Remove the picture button brings back the M1 / M2 caption.

🔍 The Magnifier tab (right after Detection) holds two magnifier settings, each with large „−" and „+" buttons next to the slider - a slider cannot be moved with your gaze, so without those buttons the settings would only be available to someone using a mouse. Changes take effect immediately, without restarting the program. Distances are given in screen points measured on the real screen, not in the magnified view: at normal screen scaling one point is one pixel, at Windows scaling 125 % it is one quarter larger.
  • Image step per arrow (2-20 points, 4 by default) - how far the image moves on one click of an arrow. This is the final nudge, when the target is already right next to the crosshair. Less: the finest correction, for example moving to the neighbouring letter. More: one arrow carries the image noticeably further - faster, but easier to miss the target.
  • Magnification (1.5-5.0x, 2.5x by default) - how many times bigger the image under the magnifier is than on the screen. Less: the circle shows a large part of the screen, it is easier to find your bearings and quicker to travel, but small things are still small. More: everything is clearly bigger and a small button is easy to hit, but the circle holds only a small piece of the screen, so the journey takes longer.

How to tune the magnifier to yourself: change one setting at a time and each time try to click something small by gaze. The last few points to the target never work out - decrease the arrow step. One arrow carries the image too far - decrease the step as well. Nudging with the arrows takes long and tires you - increase the step. Small things are still hard to hit - increase the magnification. You get lost in the magnified view and cannot tell which part of the screen you see - decrease the magnification.

The same explanations sit under every slider inside the program. The Hide explanations button at the top of the tab folds them away so the whole tab fits on the screen - the contents of the Settings window cannot be scrolled by gaze. Below there is a Default magnifier settings button which restores the factory values of the magnifier only, leaving the rest of the program untouched. The shortest way here: the wrench on the bar → Magnifier settings.

🔍 The „Magnifier 2 - simple" tab (right after the Magnifier tab) - settings of the second magnifier, the one described in point 2.1. They sit separately so they do not mix with the existing magnifier; every slider has large „−" and „+" buttons beside it, because a slider itself cannot be moved with the eyes.
  • Type of click (default double) - one large switch. Double is the default because with a single click you often cannot tell whether it worked: the icon only gets selected and nothing opens. Switch to single if you use the magnifier mainly for buttons and websites - there a double click can run a button twice or select a word in a text field.
  • How many times to magnify (2.0-8.0x, default 4.0x) - more: bigger letters and easier aiming, but the magnifier window grows. If it stopped fitting on the screen, the program reduces the magnification by itself.
  • Width of the captured area (150-600 screen points, default 300) - how wide a piece of the screen the magnifier takes. Less: more precise, but you have to aim more accurately for the target to land inside the magnifier at all. More: easier to hit the area, but everything is smaller.
  • Height of the captured area (100-400 screen points, default 200) - the same vertically. Buttons and labels are usually wider than they are tall, so this number can be smaller than the width.

Below the sliders there is a preview: the program shows how large the magnifier window will be with the current settings - the width and height of the captured area times the magnification. You can see in advance whether the window will fit on the screen, without closing Settings and trying.

⌨️ The Startup tab - besides starting the program itself, this is where the on-screen keyboard is set up (since 02.09.2026):
  • Use the System Sensor On-Screen Keyboard (instead of the Windows one) - on by default. Clearing it goes back to the plain Windows keyboard;
  • Start the on-screen keyboard together with EyeControl - the keyboard opens by itself right after the program starts, and you close it with the keyboard button on the bar.

When the System Sensor On-Screen Keyboard is not installed on the computer, the program says so plainly and works with the Windows keyboard. You will find our keyboard in the EyeControl installer - just tick it in the wizard.

👁️ The Detection tab holds two settings of the Position in front of the screen window (described in point 1) at the bottom:
  • the Show eye position when the program starts switch - on by default;
  • the Time to get positioned slider - from 5 to 30 seconds in steps of 5, 5 by default. It has large „−" and „+" buttons, because a slider itself cannot be moved by gaze. This time applies to both cases: at program startup and when the window pops up by itself during work. The change takes effect at once, without restarting the program.

The countdown only runs while the position is good, and any worse state sends it back to the start - so this number says how long the position has to stay good for the window to close by itself. Less (5 s) - the program is ready to work right away. More (30 s) - time to check whether the position holds during normal head movement.

🎯 How the program knows which distance is right for you. The 13-point Refinement records it: for those few dozen seconds you sit still and look at the dots - exactly as you do at work. It matters, because a calibration holds for the distance it was made at; sit noticeably closer or further away and the cursor starts to drift, even though nothing is broken. So the green band on the scale sits around your distance, and the marker turns greener the closer you are to it. The window also has a Remember this distance button - for when you change your working spot, without repeating the whole Refinement.

🔔 Remind about position during work (switch below, on by default). If during work you leave the good area and stay outside it for 4 seconds, the program shows the eye preview window by itself. Both things are watched at once: the distance from the remembered value and sideways drift - measured from the centre of the face, that is from the point halfway between the eyes. The window disappears as soon as you are back in a good position - you do not have to close it by gaze, which is hard exactly when the position is wrong. The next reminder comes no sooner than half a minute later, and when the program cannot see the eyes (you stepped away, dozed off), nothing pops up. This helps someone who slides down in the chair or moves involuntarily: they cannot correct their own position, and without such a signal the carer only sees that "the program suddenly works worse".

💡 An ordinary shift in the chair should not trigger this window. The green frame holds both dots when you sit straight, and the good distance band covers roughly a hand's width forward and back from the remembered spot. If the window still pops up too often, sit comfortably first and press Remember this distance in it - the stored value may come from a different sitting.

The wrench opens Settings - straight away in the main window, and from the subpage described in point 1.7 when the bar is docked. The window appears on the Detection tab and has a large Close button at its top, so you can leave it with your gaze without hunting for a small cross. Nine tabs let you fine-tune the program to yourself - from dwell-click speed to the appearance of the gaze cursor:

⏱️ The countdown ring - two colours
yellow - countdown
red - pause
  • Yellow arc - the countdown to the click is running. When the ring closes, the program clicks where the cursor stands. You set its length in the Detection tab (1.5 seconds by default).
  • Red arc - the pause right after a click. The program waits so that one longer look does not click twice in a row. It ends when you look away from the clicked spot, and after 2 seconds at the latest.

💡 If you want to click the same place again, just glance aside for a moment - the red arc disappears and the countdown starts from the beginning.

EyeControl Settings - Control tab, top

Control (top) - dwell, indicator, cursor

EyeControl Settings - Control tab, bottom

Control (bottom) - navigation, docking

EyeControl Settings - Detection tab

Detection - cursor appearance

EyeControl Settings - Calibration tab

Calibration - Fine-tuning + Tobii 9-point

EyeControl Settings - Gaze source tab

Gaze source - webcam / Tobii

EyeControl Settings - License tab

License - key, status

EyeControl Settings - Start tab

Start - autostart, on launch

EyeControl Settings - Shortcuts tab

Shortcuts - F4 and other global ones

💡 The most important shortcut: F4 - turns eye control of the cursor on / off from anywhere in Windows, even when the EyeControl window is minimized.

Button size and volume

The Control tab gained four settings (08.2026):

Sliders: Page navigation (DockedBar)

In the Control tab, in the "Page navigation" section, there are two sliders controlling the speed of navigation with your eyes:

4. DEMO mode and license activation

Without a key entered, EyeControl works in DEMO mode - the session is limited to 10 minutes from launch. A countdown is shown in the window's title bar, for example System Sensor EyeControl - DEMO (9:54).

When the time runs out, the session closes automatically and a message appears encouraging you to enter a key. Enter the key in Settings → License, click Check / Activate and start the session again.

A control unit instead of a key

When a System Sensor control unit is plugged into the computer, EyeControl runs as the full version without a key - the control unit is the licence. Settings → License then says plainly that the right to the full version comes from the control unit, and gives the number of the port where it is seen.

🔑 One condition: PIC or Y has to be installed on the same computer. That program holds the control unit's port and EyeControl cannot open it a second time, so it uses the note that PIC or Y leaves after every connection with the control unit. The note appears only once PIC or Y actually connects to the control unit - it is enough to start either of them once with the unit plugged in. Where EyeControl stands alone, a control unit will not unlock the full version.

What counts is a control unit plugged in right now: once it is unplugged, the program asks for a key again at the next start-up.

EyeControl - DEMO mode, active session, countdown 3:30

DEMO in progress

EyeControl - DEMO 3:54, title bar with countdown visible

Title bar with countdown

EyeControl - message: The DEMO period (10 minutes) has ended

End of DEMO

🎥 The "Without Tobii" variant - control with a camera or sensor

If in step 2 you chose Without Tobii, the installer skips all Tobii components (and if they were left from a previous installation - it uninstalls them, together with the Tobii Experience package from the Microsoft Store). Only the EyeControl program itself remains on the disk.

In this mode you control EyeControl with:

You start the webcam calibration (13-point, ~36 s) from the Calibration → Fine-tuning (13 points) tab.

🎯 What do you control with your eyes after installation?

EyeControl is a system-wide Windows mouse controlled by your eyes - you use it for everything you do with a mouse: all of Windows, training and rehabilitation boards, web applications (PIC 2.0, Mouse + Keyboard) and the System Sensor PIC program.

On a separate page we have gathered a practical guide: a list of specific use cases with a gallery of boards and 12 Windows settings that significantly make eye control easier (cursor, scaling, Snap Assist, touch keyboard, voice dictation, dark mode, sensor position).

👉 EyeControl use cases and Windows configuration for eye control

5. Tobii calibration - when and how

Tobii calibration adjusts the sensor to the eye position of a particular person. After the first calibration (during installation), the sensor knows the position of your pupils and correctly maps where you are looking. It is worth repeating the calibration in a few situations:

Where to perform the calibration?

Tobii calibration is done in the manufacturer's application (Tobii Experience for Tobii 5/5L or Tobii Eye Tracking for Tobii 4C/4L), not in EyeControl. You will find the full step-by-step guide with screenshots on the installation page, in the sections "First launch of Tobii Experience" and "The Tobii Experience panel":

👉 Tobii installation - calibration step by step (steps 7 and 8)

Shortcut from EyeControl: 13-point fine-tuning

EyeControl has its own short corrective calibration (13-point fine-tuning) available from Settings → Calibration → 13-point fine-tuning or the global shortcut Ctrl+Shift+F9. It does not replace Tobii calibration, only supplements it - it compensates for small deviations without having to open the Tobii application. It takes about 40 seconds.

❓ Frequently asked questions and problems

The cursor does not reach the corners of the screen

This means the fundamental Tobii calibration is missing. Run it from EyeControl Settings → Calibration → Tobii Calibration (9 points) or directly from Tobii Experience → Improve calibration. Without it, the cursor only reaches about 60% of the center of the screen.

After 10 minutes the program closes

That is DEMO mode. Enter the license key in Settings → License and click Check / Activate. From version 62.22.08.26 the program switches to the full version straight away, with no restart. Without an active license, the session has a 10-minute limit.

I have extended my licence - do I need to enter anything?

No. From version 62.22.08.26 the licence renews itself: at every start-up the program quietly checks the expiry date and saves it. Simply start the program after the licence has been extended.

The licence has run out and the computer has no internet

The program keeps working normally for another week after the expiry date and keeps trying to connect at every start-up. Once it gets through and the licence has been extended, it returns to the full version. Settings → License then shows how long the program will still work. Only when the server states outright that the licence has not been extended does the program switch to DEMO mode.

Tobii Experience does not appear

For Tobii 5 / 5L the Tobii Experience package installs from the Microsoft Store. If the store is disabled in your organization, open it manually and search for "Tobii Experience". Without it, EyeControl will not see the Tobii 5 sensor.

I had a Tobii 4C, now I want a Tobii 5 (or the other way around)

Run the EyeControl installer again and in step 2 choose the new model. The installer will detect the old driver by itself and offer to uninstall it (see step 6). You do not need to uninstall anything manually.

Does EyeControl work with System Sensor PIC?

Yes. The PIC button in the EyeControl main window launches the PIC communicator if it is installed. If not, the application will offer to download it from the website. Both programs share the cursor: EyeControl controls the mouse, and PIC reacts to dwell clicks the same way as to a regular mouse.

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