Comcast has announced the launch of eye-control capability for its X1 video platform.

According to the cable operator, the new feature lets those with physical disabilities like spinal cord injuries or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) navigate their pay TV program guide using only their eyes.

Web-based system pairs up with the user’s set-top and allows the user to access a virtual, onscreen numerical and directional interface, controlling it with their gaze.

Users can change the channel, launch the guide, search for content and set recordings without assistance. They can also use the eye-control system to set up Voice Control shortcuts for the future.

It's not a bad public relations asset for Comcast, which certainly needs one. But with more than 48 million people living with physical or mobility disabilities, there's definitely a market to be served here. 

“Changing the channel on a TV is something most of us take for granted but until now, it was a near-impossible task for millions of viewers,” said Tom Wlodkowski, VP of accessibility at Comcast. “When you make a product more inclusive you create a better experience for everyone and we’re hoping our new X1 feature makes a real difference in the lives of our customers.”

“Comcast knows that TV and media access is a powerful part of life for most people,” said David Dikter, CEO, Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA). “That X1 can now be used with eye gaze and an array of other assistive technologies shows a new level of commitment to access and independence for persons with disabilities. A company that understands that users have their own specialized technology and works to bridge these technologies in a way that delivers value, deserves applause.” 

The PyeongChang Paralympics are a great example of how Comcast NBCUniversal unites content, distribution and technology to bring a truly unique experience to millions of people across the country, including viewers with disabilities.

From March 9 through March 18, NBC Olympics will cover all six Paralympic winter sports – alpine skiing, snowboarding, sled hockey, wheelchair curling, cross-country skiing, and biathlon – as part of its more than 250 hours of 2018 Winter Games coverage across NBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app. 

For the first time ever, Paralympic broadcasts on NBC and NBCSN include video description. And on Xfinity X1, voice control, voice guidance and closed captioning are helping viewers access the planned 94 hours of Paralympics television coverage. It's the most ever for a Winter Games, nearly doubling that of Sochi 2014 (50 hours).

Based on recent research, we know these assistive technologies are helpful but they also suffer from low levels of awareness. To make accessibility options easier to enable on X1, we created a few shortcuts for customers; for example, saying “accessibility” into the X1 Voice Remote or tapping the “B” key to get to a menu with all of X1’s accessibility options. X1 users can also quickly jump into specific features by saying “captions,” description,” “SAP,” “voice guidance” or, to find any programs that are described, “shows with description.”

We also have made some improvements to our most popular accessible features. We were the first in our industry to launch voice guidance, a talking TV guide that reads aloud program titles, network names, and DVR and On Demand menus for people with visual disabilities. Now users can control the rate of speech by choosing “regular,” “fast” or “fastest” to navigate their X1 experience.

Tom Wlodkowski, who is blind himself, is Comcast's vice president of accessibility. He's pictured above demonstrating the MSO's new X1 voice remote features. Click here to watch a video about him and his work.

Comcast’s voice remote for its X1 platform has become an increasingly popular feature, and the operator has kept it stocked with a constant flow of updates that, for example, support voice commands for special events such as the Super Bowl or the Winter Olympics.

The technology that underpins that platform is also branching well beyond the TV. Comcast has already started to integrate the X1 voice remote with Xfinity Home, its home security and automation service.

Related: Comcast Adds AI Smarts to Home Security Cameras

Comcast also recently added another voice wrinkle with a Phone Finder feature for Xfinity Mobile. Those customers can activate it by saying, “Xfinity Mobile, find my phone” into the X1 voice remote, or by uttering their 10-digit phone number into the remote.

That’s expected to be just the tip of the voice-enabled spear. Comcast, which has deployed nearly 20 million voice remotes, envisions it will support voice navigation and other voice-based features across a greater number of “domains” that criss-cross the company’s full lineup of services. But a major challenge comes with creating a system that can do that, at scale, without requiring an army of people to manage and update the system manually.

Progress: It’s All In the Telling
Not only does the system need to know and understand an increasingly broader scope of specific and conversational-style commands, it also needs to grasp the intent of the voice command. Is it a search for a TV program or movie, or is the user telling the smart home system to turn off a light or adjust the thermostat?

Comcast is taking on the scale challenge with a machine learning platform developed in-house that works in tandem with an integrated metadata platform. “We have a really good advantage to work with voice, because of our metadata platform,” Comcast Cable executive director of AI product Jeanine Heck said.

That same metadata system has helped to create a foundation for the voice engine.

Early on, Comcast used a more traditional, pattern-based algorithm that relied on manual tuning. But it later realized that machine learning would be required to train that algorithm to maintain a high level of accuracy while keeping pace with requirements as the scope and complexity of the system continued to expand.

Related: AI, Machine Learning to Change the Customer Experience, Comcast’s Watson Says

Machine learning tied to a language model would also become necessary as the voice platform reaches into more domains while adapting to a broader range of conversation-style commands. “We saw that the machine could learn how to accurately find intent in a better way than it did prior to that,” Heck said, adding that Comcast’s dependence on deep learning to process natural language has only become more pronounced over time. “Our machines can learn how to adapt to those [new domains].”

Added Jonathan Palmatier, Comcast Cable’s vice president of product management, voice control: “You’d need an army of people that are trying to capture every possible way that you can construct a phrase, and [that’s where] it starts to get untenable.”

In addition to expanding voice support to multiple Xfinity services, Comcast has also been working on how voice commands can support customer support functions.