HTC now sells face-tracking and eye-tracking add-ons for Vive Focus 3.
Focus 3 is HTC’s standalone VR headset designed for business, priced at $1299. The Eye Tracker is priced at: $249 and the Facial Tracker for $99, so the total price with both add-ons comes to $1647. Both add-ons can be used at the same time as the Focus 3 has two USB-C ports.
The Eye Tracker features two 60 Hz infrared (IR) cameras with IR illuminators. It comes as a full insert that attaches magnetically under the face gasket and plugs into the primary USB-C port on the side. HTC claims it’s accurate to the inside 0.5°~1.1° after the 9 point calibration process. It not only tracks what you are currently looking at, but also tracks pupil size and openness of the eyes, enabling blink and wink detection.
HTC claims the eyetracker even supports foveated rendering, a technique that renders only the small area you’re currently looking at in full resolution to improve performance or allow for greater graphical fidelity.
The face tracker attaches to the front of the Focus 3 and connects through the secondary USB-C port present there. It uses a single 60Hz camera with a wide angle lens. It weighs only 10 grams, so shouldn’t add any noticeable extra weight on your face. HTC says it tracks 38 mixes over the lips, jaw, cheeks, chin, teeth and tongue, same as the Vive Pro Face Tracker.
These new add-ons just arrived a month before launch from Meta’s own high-end headset Quest Pro, codenamed Project Cambria. Quest Pro’s new features include facial and eye tracking. Rather than launch an all-new headset to compete, HTC seems to have found a way to upgrade its existing offering. a prominent Supply Chain Analyst Claims Quest Pro has a lower resolution than Focus 3, but uses Mini LED backlighting that provides superior contrast. Quest Pro also has mixed reality color throughput, which Focus 3 doesn’t offer.
Developers can currently integrate eye and face tracking using the Vive Wave SDK – HTC says OpenXR support is coming in the future. Both devices can also send eye and face tracking data to PC VR applications when using HTC’s Wi-Fi streaming feature. The add-ons are already available for purchase from the Vive Business accessories store.