Recently HTC Vive has announced two new HMDs: the HTC Vive Cosmos, which we spoke in a previous post, and the new HTC Vive Pro Eye, which include eye tracking technology.
Today we are talking about HTC Vive Pro Eye and the real use that can we give to these technologies.
This new HMD opens a new world of possibilities for users and developers, but, what is Eye-Tracking? and, what can we do with it and with virtual reality headsets?
The eye tracking or visual record is a system that detects what point of the screen we are focusing on and send the device this information.
This system started been used some time ago in high-end monitors, and some laptops, but Vive Pro Eye is the first VR headset that are using it.
The first thing we have to consider is that to use this technology as developers we have to adapt the content, instead as users we have to find content that supports the use of this technology.
When we start using this technology we rediscover our eyes and how to use them as a controller, but much more intuitive, because the action of looking is a natural routine within us.
Eye-tracking system facilitates interactivity
because the learning curve of virtual reality and this kind of hardware is still a bit slow, it also opens many possibilities when developing because it allows new game mechanics.
On the other hand, from the point of view of the developer, it offers us a lot of information about the user’s behaviour, giving us the possibility to create, for example, heat maps of the areas in which the user looks more.
In short, it is a way to get real user feedback and work on it, while it is developed.
It also allows us to render only the areas in which the user is focusing, saving resources and making applications that run more smoothly.
In addition to this new technology, HTC has increased the resolution of the screens
Increasing definition and brightness, what gives the chance to make bigger room scales and includes an improved spatial audio system, besides making progresses in ergonomics.
To conclude, we believe that at a professional level they are an advance because facilitates the immersion of users in the virtual reality experiences.
If you are interested in HTC Vive Pro Eye, have a look at our post about the other new HTC Vive Headset: Vive Cosmos.
