Interesting that you think pupil tracking will be dropped. A failed experiment? I still think they'll include it (it can always be turned off). I do think it makes a lot of sense to include the AF nipple from the 1Dxiii. Tilty-flippy is I fear just a dream. I think many will regard it as outdated on release, if it doesn't have 8K.
Eye-controlled AF on the R3 works very well for me, at least in reasonable use cases. I suspect Tig is recalling that the feature made it's debut in the EOS A2E and was offered in several other EOS models including the EOS 3, but notably
not in the EOS 1-series film cameras. In some ways, the job was easier in film camera days, because the camera just had to determine the closest pre-defined AF point to where your eye was pointed and make that AF point active. Now, there effectively aren't fixed AF points anymore, you can focus anywhere in the scene. In my experience, the system works best if you're using it to guide other selection algorithms the camera has available. So if I'm trying to use eye-controlled AF to select one flower in a field as my subject, it doesn't do a great job – the smart controller is much more effective and faster. But if my three kids are running around outside, eye-controlled AF very effectively allows me to shift the focus among them for face detection to take over, and fire off bursts where each kid is in focus. Same is true on an athletic field. I think if Canon excludes eye-controlled AF from the R1, it will be due to their conservative mindset. After using the feature, I think it functions well enough for use in the 1-series. I expect that feedback Canon has received on the R3 from professional users will be factored into the decision for the R1 (a decision that needs/needed to be made relatively early, since there are significant hardware implications).
I really like the Smart Controller from the 1D X III. It's on the R3, I see no reason it wouldn't be used on the R1. When not using eye-control, if there's a faster way to move the AF point around, I can't imagine what it would be. Perhaps the R1 will add customizations, e.g. tracking speed like for a computer mouse/trackpad, and if the selection stop at the frame edge or wraps to the other side (as could be selected for the multi-controller on the 1-series DSLRs).
My guess is we will see an articulating LCD on the R1. Again, feedback from R3 users will be a factor.
IMO, the R1 won't be high-res. As Tig suggests, there will be an R5 version with a high MP count to meet that desire/need. What 'low res' means is TBD. Perhaps 8K will play a role in that, Canon certainly knows use cases better than me (for me, the R1 will be for shooting stills, not video, and even then I wouldn't shoot 8K if I could).