For Vive Focus 3, HTC now offers add-ons for face and eye tracking.
The standalone HTC Vive Focus 3 VR headset, which costs $1299, is intended for commercial use. The Facial Tracker costs $99, while the Eye Tracker costs $249, bringing the combined cost of the two add-ons to $1647. Since the Focus 3 has two USB-C ports, both add-ons may be used at once.
Two infrared (IR) cameras with IR illuminators operate at 60 hertz in the Eye Tracker. It is provided as a complete insert that snaps on magnetically beneath the gasket on the face and is wired to the main USB-C port on the side. Following a 9 point calibration procedure, HTC says its device is accurate to within 0.5°–1.1°. The ability to identify blinks and winks is enabled by the tracking of your pupil size, eye openness, and where you are now looking.
With foveated rendering, which HTC claims the eye tracker supports, only the little area you’re presently looking at is drawn at full resolution to improve speed or enable higher graphical fidelity, the eye tracker is even said to be capable of tracking your eye movements.
The Focus 3’s front has a supplementary USB-C connector, which the facial tracker connects to. The camera is a single wide-angle, 60Hz camera. It shouldn’t feel noticeably heavier on your face because it weighs only 10 grammes. The Vive Pro Facial Tracker monitors 38 blend forms on the lips, jaw, cheeks, chin, teeth, and tongue, according to HTC.
The introduction of Meta’s high-end headset Quest Pro, code-named Project Cambria, is just one month away, and these new add-ons are already available. Face and eye tracking are among the main new features of Quest Pro. HTC seems to have found a method to improve its current product rather than releasing a whole new headset to compete. Quest Pro, according to a well-known supply chain expert, has better contrast and a smaller LED backlight than Focus 3. Focus 3 lacks a depth sensor and colour passthrough for mixed reality, whereas Quest Pro will have both.
The HTC Vive Wave SDK presently allows developers to use face and eye tracking; support for OpenXR is reportedly coming soon. Using HTC’s Wi-Fi streaming function, both devices can also broadcast eye and facial tracking data to PC VR apps. The Vive Business accessories shop has the add-ons already available for purchase.
