High Fidelity Uses SMI HMD Eye Tracking to Create Life-like VR Avatars

High Fidelity Uses SMI HMD Eye Tracking to Create Life-like VR Avatars

SAN FRANCISCO and TELTOW, Germany, September 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

    Open source VR network adds real eye movements to avatar animations using eye tracking
for Virtual Reality Headsets by SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI)

         (Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150929/271870 )

    Today, High Fidelity, Inc. [https://highfidelity.com ] and SensoMotoric Instruments
[http://www.smivision.com ] (SMI) announce the integration of SMI HMD Eye Tracking
technology with the High Fidelity social VR platform. Alpha users with access to the eye
tracking hardware, can experience real eye contact with another person on the platform's
virtual spaces. The animation is powered by SMI's unique and proven eye tracking upgrade
for the Oculus Rift DK2
[http://www.smivision.com/en/gaze-and-eye-tracking-systems/products/eye-tracking-hmd-upgrade.html ]
which is available for VR developers and researchers. VR creators are invited to
use the eye tracking integration to build life-like interaction scenarios and share them
on the High Fidelity open source VR network.

    Watch High Fidelity video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64n8D-2TIHc
View photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/smieyetracking

    Digital presences, e.g. through avatars in social VR, have to be life-like. Real-time
and realistic animation of the behavior that contains the critical cues for life-like
experiences is key to achieve the optimal impression. Correct gaze direction is one
critical factor that plays a major role in social interaction. SMI's eye tracking provides
this cue accurately, robust and in real-time. Eye tracking inside the Oculus Rift records
where exactly in the virtual scene a user is looking and enables people to make eye
contact with another avatar in a virtual space.

    SMI's eye tracking upgrade for the Oculus Rift DK2 is the only high-performance eye
tracking solution available and proven for VR applications. It is designed for
professional and academic developers and comes with plug-ins for popular VR engines, e.g.
Unity and WorldViz. It streams highly accurate 3D data such as gaze vector and eyeball
position and comes with a calibration-free user mode for quick and easy setup. A fully
automatic slip compensation allows users to move or take the headset on or off without
impact on data robustness.

    SMI also provides an OEM Eye Tracking Platform and reference designs for Virtual
Reality Headsets ready for pick up by HMD manufacturers. Besides new gaze interaction
experiences, adding eye tracking to VR hardware allows for optimized use of rendering
resources and personalized 3D presentation.

    High Fidelity is an open source virtual reality network. It uses a range of new
devices such as the Oculus Rift to make the VR experience more immersive and interaction
with others more life-like. The platform allows users to build complex interactive
experiences using standard formats, languages and tools and to deploy shared virtual
spaces to the network.

    Philip Rosedale, Inventor, Founder High Fidelity & Second Life: "We need life-like
avatars to convincingly recreate real-world interactions in VR such as talking, shaking
hands or looking at each other. The SMI Eye Tracking Upgrade for the Oculus Rift DK2 is
capable of fast, accurate tracking of the eye. At High Fidelity, we used this hardware to
add real eye movements to our avatars and the experience of making eye contact with
another person in a virtual space is remarkable."

    "SMI Eye Tracking technology is being used by renowned scientific institutes and
professional developers," says Christian Villwock, Director of SMI`s OEM Solutions
Business. "Our platform is based on a complex set of eye model algorithms derived from two
decades of experience in eye tracking for ophthalmology and eye surgery ensuring high
robustness and ease of use."

    About SMI 

    SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) is a world leader in eye tracking technology,
developing and marketing eye & gaze tracking solutions for scientists and professionals,
OEM and medical solutions for a wide range of applications. Find out more at
http://www.smivision.com. Follow @SMIeyetracking on Facebook
[https://www.facebook.com/smieyetracking ], Flickr
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/smieyetracking ], YouTube
[https://www.youtube.com/user/smieyetracking ] and Twitter
[https://twitter.com/SMIEyeTracking ].

       
         
        Media Contacts 
        SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI) 
        Stefanie Gehrke 
        +49-(0)172-3808 537 
        Stefanie.Gehrke@smi.de 

     

    Photo:
    http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150929/271870

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150929/271870
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150929/271870
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI)