Direct sunlight on the sensor will keep the device in "a-okay" mode (IR lock).
Fortunately, the Tobii Dynavox gives off a different series of pulses than the sun. So, I'm going to record the data I get from sunlight and modify the code to filter that out. Hopefully this technique works.
If not, then we go with the remotely mounted IR detector, which will be much closer to the eye gaze device. And I can put a "hood" on it, to help prevent too much external light.