The VIVE Focus 3 Eye Tracker and VIVE Focus 3 Facial Tracker are available now for purchase.
HTC Vive this week unveiled two new accessories for the Vive Focus 3 that introduce both facial and eye tracking support to the all-in-one VR headset. The company hopes these devices will prove useful in a number of different scenarios, from education and human resourcing to various other industries and professions.
“The new VIVE Focus 3 Facial Tracker, allows for more vivid virtual human interactions, and will have a great impact on how VTubers perform in the future,” said HTC in an official release. “The accuracy and simplicity of the VIVE Focus 3 Eye Tracker will empower VTubers’ live performances, enabling them to unleash more of their potential.”
The Vive Focus 3 Facial Tracker features a mono-tracking camera capable of tracking expressions through 38 blend shapes. The camera tracks your cheeks, chin, jaw, lips, teeth, and tongue, capturing detailed facial expressions in real time. A 60Hz tracking rate means little to no latency between your voice and the mouth movements of your in-game avatar.
No additional hardware or adapters are required in order to set up the Facial Tracker. All you have to do is plug in the device to the USB Type-C port on your Vive Focus 3 headset and, boom, you’re good to go.
“The benefits of facial tracking are vast, improving soft skills in presentation coaching, customer service management, training, and more,” added the company. “Users can track and improve their emotional preparedness, helping to achieve better real-life outcomes across many applications, from education and healthcare to human resources and creative industries.”
Then there’s the Vive Focus 3 Eye Tracker, a dual camera setup complete with IR illuminators. This additional hardware tracks everything from your gaze direction and origin to pupil size to eye openness, promising a more realistic in-headset experience.
Gaze-based interactions allow you to interact with the virtual world just by looking at certain people or objects. Foveated rendering enables developers to minimize their GPU workloads. Realistic eye movements and blinking result in more immersive in-VR conversations. The list goes on. The lightweight device attaches easily to the Vive Focus 3 via magnets and doesn’t interfere with the headset IPD adjustor.
“Vive Focus 3 Eye Tracker allows you to see what users see to understand intentions and improve feedback, perfect for training and education scenarios,” said HTC. “Measure duration and locate direction with heat mapping and gaze tracking to gain insights about performance and interaction to improve outcomes. VIVE Focus 3 Eye Tracker also helps to understand how users naturally interact with a product and improve the experience by uncovering actionable insights about user intent.”
You can purchase the VIVE Focus 3 Eye Tracker now for £216 ($248.24) as well as the VIVE Focus 3 Facial Tracker for £83 ($95.39).
Image Credit: HTC
