Starbreeze AB, an independent creator, publisher and distributor of high quality entertainment products, today announced a collaboration with Tobii, the leader in eye-tracking, to integrate Tobii’s eye tracking technology into Starbreeze unique 210-degree field of view, 5K resolution virtual reality headset StarVR.
Eye tracking is set to further revolutionize virtual reality application where the user’s eye movements and reactions can trigger different reactions and paths in the experience. Most importantly, the implementation of foveated rendering (Gaze Prioritized Graphics), or computational graphics, can occur when the device knows the specific area the user is currently looking.
With foveated rendering, StarVR will not need to sacrifice any of its graphics quality or resolution in order to accommodate the large FOV found in VR HMDs, ensuring a consistent, top-quality experience for users.
“We’re still in early development of our StarVR HMD and are therefore looking for best in class solutions to the components that we believe make the best VR experiences there is” said Emmanuel Marquez, CTO of Starbreeze AB. He continued” Eye tracking technology in a VR HMD will let us customize the experiences and enable even further immersion.
“Starbreeze is known for creating killer, high-quality consumer experiences, which is what attracted us to this collaboration,” said Oscar Werner, president of Tobii Tech. “The ambition is to deliver the most immersive and realistic experiences with the highest graphical standards and eye tracking components for an unparalleled VR HMD.”
Examples of Eye Tracking Enhancements to Virtual Reality
- Gaze-prioritized graphics (also known as foveated rendering)Â –Â VR graphics can be improved and optimized by, for instance, rendering graphics with higher resolution in the region where the user is looking.
-  VR comfort – Comfort in the VR experience can be improved by more precise graphics rendering based on data about the position and direction of the eyes.
- Gaming immersion – Harnessing natural eye movement, environments and characters can be made more realistic and interactive in games through:
- Natural targeting – To pick up or throw an object, instead of pointing towards the object through head movement, users only need to look at the object to interact with it. This interaction is natural, intuitive and seamless because it so closely mimics real life.
- Eye contact – This fundamental non-verbal communication is critical to our interaction with others. Bringing the same principle to character interaction in a film or game makes users even more deeply immersed. Characters can come to life, interact or ignore you based on eye contact.
- Immersive graphics and sound – Scary or surprising reactions can be created by knowing what users are paying attention to. Sounds, for instance and characters may appear from where users are not currently looking.
SOURCE: Starbreeze AB Press Release