GazeHidTest: Unable to open gaze HID: HidDevice.FromIdAsync returns null

[lostmsu]

I had to manually go to system Settings -> Privacy -> Eye tracker and enable it for GazeHidTest in order for it to appear in DeviceInformation.FindAllAsync(selector) (without this action the returned array was emtpy).

Still can not open the device itself. In this line _eyeTracker is null.

I also tried to do HidDevice.FromAsyncId from non-sandboxed app (e.g. desktop WPF) with the same result. When I manually try to call CreateFile (via a 3rd party library) on the HID device I get explicit Access Denied error, even when the app is launched as administrator.

Is opening eye tracker HID device a supported scenario? If not, is there any other way to read coordinate reports from a non-UWP app (desktop WPF or Win32)?

Environment

OS: Windows 10 21H2 (19044.1706)
Hardware: Tobii Eye Tracker

P.S. Eye control feature in Windows works

[joncamp]

Thanks for your interest in these features. I just want to be sure I am tracking what you are trying to do. Based on the above screenshot it appears that you are using a Tobii eye tracker? If so, which model and divers are you using?

[lostmsu]

I am using the old EyeX. I can read the data using Tobii legacy library, but I was interested in doing it in a device-independent way.

[joncamp]

Excellent - and to further verify - you are able to access eye tracking using UWP based solutions (Eye Control for Windows, Eyes First Games, or custom code)? If the eye tracker isn't working with HID at all using UWP, then it's likely a driver issue. There have been times where the tobii driver's support of HID was having issues.

[lostmsu]

The GazeTracing app, that uses GazeInputSourcePreview from this repo works fine, so does Windows "Eye control" feature in settings.

[joncamp]

Ok - so it sounds like the HID support in the driver itself is working, as well as the underlying windows HID support that connects to UWP. Currently there is no support for non-UWP HID access through the Windows APIs, though I encourage you to submit feedback via the Feeback Hub app. microsoft/WindowsAppSDK#432 tracks one such proposal, so I encourage you to comment on that as well.

There may also be a driver level setting preventing access - consider reaching out to Tobii developer support and see what they say.