HTC Vive Eye-Tracking Add-On Available Next Month
7invensun, a startup based in China, announced they will be rolling out a new eye tracking module for the Vive in May. According to HTC, the system will cost about $220 USD and will release first in China next month before rolling out towards Q3 in North America. This HMD add-on, called the aGlass DKII, will bring real-time eye tracking to all existing Vives via insertable lenses that fit directly into the headset.
The aGlass features full FOV tracking which can reach over 110-degrees, world-class level high precision eye-tracking less that 0.5-degrees at present (and currently improving with data accumulation and algorithm application), and low latency speed of tracking up to 120~380 H, and the latency is below 5ms. aGlass’s excellent real-time performance will enhance realistic immersion, while it’s high definition tracking technology enhances GPU efficiency, reducing the sense of dizziness.
Another cool feature is vision correction, for all of you out there who wear glasses. With customized lenses you can experience VR without your glasses. 7invensun will provide aGlasses 200-degree, 400-degree, or 600-degree myopic lenses free of charge.
A breakdown of aGlass applications are listed below:
Foevated Rendering
Based on the principle of gazing by human eyes, full HD rending can be carried out only the part of an image that the user is focusing on, while the other parts of the images are rendered at a lower quality. So GPU efficiency can be enhanced, hardware demanding can be reduced as well.
Eye Tracking Interaction
In real-life interactions, people preferentially turn their heads to control their vision fields and locate targets by rotating eyes; eye tracking interaction for VR is designed to be both fit in human nature, and provide higher efficiency than traditional operating methods, allowing a more natural experience.
Eye tracking Data
Eye tracking data and analysis functions collect and analyze users’ fixation data when they are viewing images, which can generate users’ behavioral feature data in terms of fixation tracks, fixation area, and duration.
The aGlass DKII is the world’s first VR eye-tracking model. It provides a one stop, full-service solution for all kinds of VR devices and platforms, reducing hardware demands while offering various interaction methods and valuable user data.
7invensun is part of the Vive X accelerator’s second class program, Vive’s in-house startup incubator. At present time, upon release the aGlass will only work with the Vive.