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Sony has recently been opening up about its next-gen PlayStation VR headset, revealing key specifications and some new features for the PS VR2. One of these features is eye-tracking, which may end up being provided by Tobii, one of the more prominent companies in the eye-tracking technology space.
Tobii has been working on eye-tracking tech for years now and has released various peripherals for PC that can enable eye-tracking capabilities. Tobii even partnered with Ubisoft at one point to offer eye-tracking integration in Assassin's Creed. The company has been a little quiet since then, but it is now in talks to provide eye-tracking tech for the next PlayStation VR headset.
In a press release, Tobii makes it public that it is “currently in negotiation with Sony Interactive Entertainment” to provide eye-tracking technology for the PlayStation VR2. The notice goes on to say that the company won't be discussing the financial implications of this deal at this time, so this appears to mainly be a heads-up for investors that a major licensing deal is in the works.
Sony has not said much publicly about the eye-tracking capabilities of the PlayStation VR2, but we expect that it will be used in conjunction with foveated rendering, which lowers the resolution of portions of the scene outside of what the user is focused on. This in turn leads to great performance savings, which is particularly important in VR, where frame rate drops, or a low frame rate in general, can be detrimental to the experience.
Sony is expected to officially unveil the PlayStation VR2 later this year, alongside the first major game – Horizon: Call of the Mountain.
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KitGuru Says: Tobii has specialised in eye-tracking tech for years now, so this partnership would make sense. Interestingly, this does push back on rumours from last month, which claimed that the PSVR 2 would be entering mass production this quarter. If Sony is still working on finalising the hardware, then launch might be a bit further out than we thought just a few weeks ago.
