HTC’s flagship virtual reality product, the Vive Pro is getting eye tracking built into the next version of the headset.
Vive Pro Eye adds a new way to navigate menus and offers functionality to games that support eye tracking. HTC says the eye tracking will reduce reliance on controllers by offering a new input method.
Eye tracking also enables foveated rendering, meaning graphics processors will render what users are directly looking at in higher quality, while parts of the virtual environment that exist in peripheral vision will be lower quality, saving on computation power requirements and increasing fidelity where users need it most.
HTC also announced a subscription service called Viveport Infinity that offers over 500 virtual reality games to customers for a yet-to-be-announced monthly fee. The service will become available from April 5th and will support multiple virtual reality platforms including Vive, Oculus and mobile-based headsets.
Vive Pro Eye will be available in the second quarter of the year, but pricing is yet to be announced. The current Vive Pro starter kit including controllers and tracking stations retails locally for AU$1899 from the Vive website directly, and adding eye tracking will likely add to the price as well.
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