Virtual reality headsets once seemed like a thing of fiction, however the technology for them is quickly advancing and they are now part of today’s reality. The FOVE Virtual Reality Headset on Kickstarter has made quite a splash and was funded in a mere 72 hours! FOVE is the first eye tracking virtual reality headset, which means that it tracks a user’s gaze and calculates where in 3D space a user is looking. This enables the graphics engine to adjust focus and allocate rendering resources accordingly.

With FOVE you can…

• Aim With Your Eyes. Simply target, aim and shoot with true line-of-sight targeting.
• Make Eye Contact. Look, laugh and communicate with virtual characters just like in the real world.
• Focus Your Vision. View realistic scenery that blurs and sharpens, reacting to where you are focusing.
• Move Naturally. Tilt your head to reduce simulation sickness by reducing the need for unnatural head movements.

“FOVE enables eye-tracking by incorporating custom small form-factor infrared sensors inside the headset. These sensors bounce light off the retina to register how the eyes are angled. Our unique algorithms can calculate the parallax between the eyes to track and measure depth-of-field focus.” The technology behind this virtual reality headset make is great for gaming but the technology goes far beyond that as well… “Eye Play the Piano is a collaborative project between the University of Tsukuba’s Special Needs Education School for the Physically Challenged and FOVE. FOVE recognizes eye movement and blinks to trigger the selected chord, which is then conveyed to the piano.” (You can view a video of the children in action playing the piano on the FOVE Kickstarter page.)

Virtual reality is the future of storytelling and this technology has far reaching capabilities. If you are interested in learning more about the technology behind FOVE, check out the Kickstarter page; It is full of videos, renderings and fascinating VR technology information. You can also visit the official company website.

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