FOVE: The World's First Eye Tracking Virtual Reality Headset

[Northmountain]

I couldn't seem to find a thread on this anywhere on here. This might be due to the fact that the VR market seems to be getting saturated, what with Oculus, Sony and Samsung, and/or that the VR hype is cooling down, I don't know.

FOVE has a feature which I haven't seen in any of the other products, which is eye tracking. For those unfamiliar with eye tracking, it's basically a method of measuring where the human eye is looking, using infrared beams. It is already being used in a number of applications, such as market research and the like.

This adds another interesting dimension to VR, which I think makes FOVE stand out (at the moment). Besides numerous gaming applications (the most obvious one being aiming), it can be used for a number of other things as well, such as acting as an interface for people with limited mobility. There is for example a video of a child playing the piano, controlling it with his eyes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=111&v=--WyN7wJ5bI).
(SMI (SensoMotoric Instruments) does have an eye tracking upgrade for the Oculus (http://www.smivision.com/en/gaze-and-eye-tracking-systems/products/eye-tracking-hmd-upgrade.html) but it reportedly costs 14,850$ according to gizmag.com ( http://www.gizmag.com/eye-tracking-oculus-rift/34878/), which hardly makes it affordable...)

Pitch blurb from the kickstarter page:

FOVE reads subtle eye movements for more precise control in VR at an affordable price.

It will offer:

Built-in cutting-edge eye tracking technology, plus wide field of view, high resolution display, and head tracking, all in one affordable HMD.

...and will be:

Adaptable to current virtual reality applications from Unity, Unreal Engine, and Cryengine.

 

It looks like something pulled straight off the head of a storm trooper:

Some tech specs:
Low persistence 5,8 inch screen, with a resolution of 2560x1440 and an FOV of 100+ and 60 fps (90 projected). Infrared eye tracking with a <0.2 degree accuracy. USB 3, DP and 3.5mm headphone jack.

As of the writing of this, they have already raised 438,000$ (goal being 250,000) with 18 days to go (!), campaign ending July 4th. Shipping of developer kits is planned for spring 2016.

 

Cheapest pledge is 349$, which should give you some (vague) idea of what the end product will cost when launched.

TechCrunch:

Make eye contact with characters in games or aim weapons much more quickly than with a mouse or keyboard.

Gizmag:

Not only does [foveated rendering] mimic human vision in the real world by blurring the areas that the user isn't looking at directly, but it also allows computing resources responsible for rendering a scene to be allocated more efficiently.

Kickstarter page:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fove/fove-the-worlds-first-eye-tracking-virtual-reality
TechCrunch article with an interview with CEO Yuka Kojima and CTO Lochlainn Wilson and a short Q&A:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/09/fove/
IGN did a hands-on pretty recently which can be found here:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/05/20/hands-on-with-foves-eye-tracking-virtual-reality-headset

 

I bet this thread will drown among all the E3 news, but what the hell.

(If my forum search was inadequate and there already is a thread on this, my apologies.)

[qwertywarrior]

oh i thought it died

they still want to do this thing ....

[jos]

It is extemely difficult to implement proper eye tracking. I have tried to impement it with a cam. Accuracy was very low.. But it is quite interesting. hope they will atleast announce their approch..

[Northmountain]

It is extemely difficult to implement proper eye tracking. I have tried to impement it with a cam. Accuracy was very low.. But it is quite interesting. hope they will atleast announce their approch..

Looking at the videos and demos/hands-on tests that they have posted, it seems very accurate - just as accurate as any market research eye tracking I've come across.

[Mo_z_Art]

now theres the question: a car, or VR? ^^

wayyyy too expensive for me to ever buy one

[Master Disaster]

It is extemely difficult to implement proper eye tracking. I have tried to impement it with a cam. Accuracy was very low.. But it is quite interesting. hope they will atleast announce their approch..

AH-64 Pilots wear a helmet with a mini screen over the left eye and eye tracking on the right one so pilots can look at targets to lock onto them and its insanely accurate so its possible.

OFC Military Attack Chopper =/= Home VR.

[DeViLzzz]

VR just turning into a fad and everyone has to come out with some sort of VR.  Seriously how many more companies are going to push this stuff out?

[jos]

AH-64 Pilots wear a helmet with a mini screen over the left eye and eye tracking on the right one so pilots can look at targets to lock onto them and its insanely accurate so its possible.

OFC Military Equipment =/= Home VR.

I just used webcam and MATLAB. Algorithm is important

[Master Disaster]

VR just turning into a fad and everyone has to come out with some sort of VR.  Seriously how many more companies are going to push this stuff out?

And it'll last as long as the last big fad, 3D.

5 years time I guarantee there will be one or two companies still selling VR while everyone else has abandoned it.

Holo Lense on the other hand, that shit is gonna be huge.