SMI Expands OEM Platform with Eye Tracking HTC Vive Developer Kit

ANAHEIM, California, July 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

"Trusted, stable and proven platform" now works on more screens and devices says SMI's Christian Villwock

SensoMotoric Instruments has unveiled a developer kit for the HTC Vive virtual reality headset, the latest addition to its proven, consumer-ready eye tracking platform for OEMs.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160722/392159 )

The top-selling head mounted display (HMD) has been modified with the addition of tiny, unobtrusive cameras and infrared light sources to enable eye tracking based upon SMI's leading computer vision algorithms. The C#/C++ SDK comes with plugins for VR engines including Unreal, Unity and WorldViz Vizard.

SMI's OEM eye tracking platform includes reference designs for desktop, mobile and augmented and virtual reality. It is proven with more than 250,000 users and in total, SMI eye tracking is proven worldwide with more than five million users.

In virtual reality, SMI set the standard with the 2014 develop kit for the Oculus Rift DK2 with eye tracking and has this year released an SDK for the modified Samsung Gear VR.

SMI's Director of OEM Solutions Business Christian Villwock said the success of these projects underlines the strength of SMI's eye tracking platform.

"Our eye tracking platform is trusted, stable and proven with the leading consumer hardware makers, on the widest range of screens and devices, and with a quarter of a million users. It is upon that experience and success that this latest product, the Eye Tracking Upgrade for the best-selling HTC Vive, is built," he said.

VR with eye tracking paves the way for new features and user benefits including:

• Foveated rendering- giving a richer visual experience with a lower processing load.
• Gaze interaction- meaning content can be selected by simply looking at the menu option.
• Personal display calibration- which makes for a VR experience more comfortable on the eyes.
• Social presence- which creates a more realistic experience especially when avatars meet in virtual worlds.
• Analytical insights- of great value to games developers, corporate users and researchers.

At Siggraph, SMI will showcase its eye tracking HTC Vive and the other products from the OEM platform at booth 472.

About SMI  

SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) has been a world leader in eye tracking technology for 25 years, developing and marketing eye & gaze tracking systems for scientists and professionals, as well as OEM and medical solutions for a wide range of applications. Find out more at http://www.smivision.com. Follow @SMIeyetracking on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter.

Media Contacts
SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI)
Tim Stott
+49-(0)-162-271-61-66
tim.stott@smi.de