Eye Tracking Is The Missing Piece In Mark Zuckerberg's VR Strategy
The Missing Piece in Mark Zuckerberg's VR Strategy
Mark Zuckerberg's acquisition of Oculus VR in 2014 marked a significant shift in the tech industry's focus on virtual reality (VR). With the promise of VR becoming the foundation of personal computing, Zuckerberg's vision for a new social network clouded the Oculus vision. However, a key technology has been conspicuously absent from almost all Oculus headset and glasses designs: eye tracking.
Eye Tracking in 2017
In 2017, I attended a pair of eye tracking demos at GDC, one of them inside Valve's booth. From these demos, I started to realize the empowering potential of eye tracking for VR software designers. The additional information provided by eye tracking would allow creators to make games that are fundamentally different from the current generation. It was like I had been suddenly handed a superpower, and I naturally started using it as such – because it was fun.
Architecting a VR Platform without Eye Tracking
Architecting an entire VR platform over a decade without a solid plan for default implementation of eye tracking is a study in long-term vision meeting short-term execution. Mark Zuckerberg's organization, Meta, has been investing heavily in VR technologies, but the absence of eye tracking has limited the platform's scale and ambition.
Meta's Shift in Strategy
In 2022, Meta announced the most dramatic course-correction to its strategy yet, laying off hundreds of employees. The weight of Meta's shift might lead some to believe that Oculus VR was a "legendary misadventure" and virtual reality is dead, again. However, this couldn't be further from reality. The future of VR has never been brighter, and the absence of eye tracking is a key factor in Meta's struggles.
Eye Tracking in Valve's Steam Frame
Valve has been centered on eye tracking in their latest headsets, including the Steam Frame. The consumer release of Steam Frame is a significant milestone, marking the culmination of Valve's efforts to create a VR platform with eye tracking. Apple has also launched the Vision Pro, which uses eye tracking to drive the included Persona avatars and outward-facing display system.
From Rift to Quest
Meta's investments in VR technologies have been significant, but the absence of eye tracking has limited the platform's scale and ambition. The company has been trying to force a social network onto the wrong technology at the wrong time in the wrong way. The legendary misadventure here was the entire Horizon Worlds effort, attempting to force a social network by brute force onto the wrong technology at the wrong time in the wrong way.
Gaming Studios Instead of Eye Tracking
Meta acquired Beat Saber in 2019 and doubled down by hiring dozens of developers skilled in the use of Oculus Touch controllers. However, the company's decision to ship headsets without eye tracking after shipping a single headset that tracks eyes may be the cause of Meta losing some of the lead in VR that was bought with Oculus in 2014.
From Real to Virtual and Virtual to Real
The Reality-Virtuality Continuum, proposed by Paul Milgram in 1994, is a fundamental concept in VR research. The continuum represents the spectrum of reality and virtuality, with VR headsets at one end and augmented reality (AR) glasses at the other. Apple's Vision Pro is a spatial computer that can shift between the two ends of the continuum using a dial and software.
Pointing Cameras in the Wrong Directions
If Vision Pro is a spatial computer, Apple's answer to the Meta Ray-Ban glasses should function more like a spatial mouse. No display and all input. Apple could take the sensors for tracking hand movements and eye movements from Vision Pro and put that technology into slim frames with Bluetooth and battery. Thin clear glasses can gather the same eye and finger input as a big enclosed VR headset.
Why VR Headsets Need Eye Tracking
VR headsets need eye tracking for the same reason a computer needs a mouse. It is how you tell the computer what you want in a graphical user interface, even if you still need something else to select what you're looking at. Eye tracking is used to target what you're looking at so that when you "mouse click" by pinching your fingers together, the whole system responds to exactly what you want in that moment.
Conclusion
The absence of eye tracking has limited the scale and ambition of Meta's VR platform. The company's shift in strategy has been dramatic, but the future of VR has never been brighter. Valve's Steam Frame and Apple's Vision Pro are significant milestones in the development of VR technologies with eye tracking. As the industry continues to evolve, it is clear that eye tracking will be a key feature in the development of VR headsets and glasses.
Source: https://www.uploadvr.com/eye-tracking-missing-piece-mark-zuckerberg-vr-strategy/
