Henrik Johansson of Tobii Technology talks about some of their eye tracking technology that’s started to be integrated into different video games like Assassin’s Creed to be able to have an “Infinity Screen” user interface to 2D video games.
Eye tracking in VR has a lot of applications ranging from foveated rendering to being able to dynamically adjust the focus of the object that your currently looking at. At GDC, Henrik says that Tobii was talking about some of their collaborations with virtual reality head mounted display manufacturers for the first time. He wasn’t specific in terms of who or what exactly they’ve been working on, but said that sometime by the end of the June that they would be announcing more collaborations and work within both AR and VR. But they do have some AR-type of eye tracking Tobii Glasses 2 ready for the consumer market.
Henrik talks about some of the existing implementations of eye tracking with video games, and one of the exciting new game mechanics that becomes more possible with eye tracking is to give a more realistic and human behavior to interactions with NPCs. You can either trigger responses or change behavior of NPCs based upon whether or not you’re looking at them. He also shares some of the other applications and implementations of their eye tracking solutions in different software programs, and a bit more information about their SDK.
Eye tracking in VR is going to be able to add a lot of engagement within social situations and collaboration within VR, and so be sure to keep an eye on Tobii near the end of the second quarter of this year for more information on how they plan on using their technology within the VR and AR space.
Theme music: “Fatality” by Tigoolio
