Tobii Tech Virtual Reality Makes a Break in Gaming History

A photo of a 360 video on a cell phone.

A photo of a 360 video on a cell phone.

Tobii Tech is a technology company that makes virtual reality software and equipment for gaming and entertainment. According to the Tobii website, they have been working on a new type of virtual reality that will apply to virtual reality gaming. The company is making an eye tracking VR system.

Tobii Tech explained that the new eye tracking system is going to be a feature in the VR headsets that will be able to watch and monitor eye movement and focus the eyes on what they are looking at with a higher resolution. Everything else will be gazed out with a lower resolution.

Tobii Tech is hoping that the feature will bring a new experience to the consumers and will bring more emotion into the game or movie being watched through the VR headset.

“That’s crazy awesome!” says Arrowhead student, Dylan Engaldo. “I can’t believe that technology is coming along this far with the graphics and all. I’m sure that getting one of the headsets must be really expensive. They must be so realistic though.”

The new eye tracking system will be able to do more than just focussing resolution. The eye trackers will be able to immerse graphics with sound to give the user more emotions with the movie or game being watched. This setting is for the gaming side of virtual reality. It is said by Tobii that the gamer is going to become one with the game and will have better attention with blended graphics and sound.

Tobii stated that eye contact will also be added as a feature. The games that have not yet been created will include characters that will give eye contact to the user and provide more emotion and awareness to the player. There is aso going to be natural targeting. This is where the player isn’t going to need a remote control to pick weapons or other objects in the game. The player can look into the direction of the weapon or object and it will be picked up without the need to physically move or motion the head. This makes the game more lifelike or realistic.

“It will never stop amazing me, how technology is advancing like this. People can almost pretty much have or make a different reality with the VR headsets when they are playing a game. It’s for sure a whole new reality. Just the fact that the headset has the ability to track your eyes and focus at what you are looking at it so cool,” says Arrowhead student, Nick Russell. “It’s pretty legit.”

Tobii Tech has plans to redefine the movie experience for the user as well. They stated that they want to focus more on the reality than the virtual or movies. The technology is stated to be humanized with eye tracking sensors to immerse the user into the movie. Tobii Tech is planning on making personalized movies that will have different endings depending on where the person is looking throughout the movie. It relates to the environment of the movie and the person’s emotions as to where they are looking. This makes the person watching the movie feel more immersed or connected to the movie and the characters in it. The new eye tracking feature will be able to emotionally draw the person watching the movie into a deeper virtual reality experience.

The Tobii Tech company website explained that since everyone’s eyes are different width apart, it would be hard to make the 3D rendering of the VR headset perfect. The company has designed the new eye tracking software to be able to accurately monitor the eyes of the person wearing the goggles and be able to adjust itself to make the 3D rendering look perfect so all people using the goggles will have the best possible experience they can have.

“The most amazing thing of all is that we can really jump into the game with these headsets. The graphics are becoming so lifelike that you could almost forget it’s just a game and not really a reality. This is going to totally change the world of gaming,” says Russell.

“I think it’s amazing that we will be able to eventually pick the way our movies end. Thats crazy how technology can do that just by watching where your eyes are looking on the screen. This is a huge step up for virtual reality. It puts you in the movie. People will be amazed when this comes out. I’m sure they will be a really big deal. Completely amazing,” says Engaldo.