Engineering grads earn attention for eye-controlled Super Mario play

Back in December, we wrote about Baylor grad Hunter Smith (BS ’08) and his work with an Austin-based group of engineers in modifying a car so it could be driven by an iPhone app. How would Smith ever top that?

Easy; he and another BU alum, Chris Culver (BS ’08), worked on Waterloo Labs‘ latest project: a system that allows you to play video games like the original Super Mario Brothers with your eyes. Sound crazy? They explain the basics and demonstrate how it works in the video below:

Like the iPhone car app, the eye-controlled Mario story has earned some nice publicity for these Baylor grads, with stories running on FoxNews.com, PC World, Engadget, Wired, Popular Science, and even an extended segment on an Australian morning show.

As we noted previously, the engineers at Waterloo Labs tackle such projects simply because they enjoy testing the limits of their own abilities while having fun with do-it-yourself-type projects — much like TV’s Mythbusters. It’s a great way to have a good time while sharpening their engineering skills — the ones Smith and Culver learned right here at Baylor.

Sic ’em, Hunter and Chris!