WorldViz 3D platform adds VR glasses

Press release: SMI and WorldViz Bring Eye Tracking to Virtual Reality

BERLIN and TELTOW, Germany — VSS 2014 inFlorida: SensoMotoric Instruments and WorldViz show responsive 3D scenarios incorporating gaze and motion tracking  for realistic analysis and interaction in VR environments.

(Image courtesy WorldViz.)
(Image courtesy WorldViz.)

SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), a leader in eye tracking technology, and WorldViz, the industry leader in interactive visualization and simulation solutions, announce the integration of SMI Eye Tracking Glasses with the Vizard VR Software Toolkit, the key 3D content creation software by WorldViz.

The new user-friendly integration allows users to design fully interactive 3D simulations that incorporate eye and motion tracking, thus providing instant and objective insights into attention patterns of users. It is perfectly suited for professional trainers, operational safety instructors, industrial engineers, and designers who want to conduct realistic evaluations of alternative scenarios or possible hazards in a safety critical environment — while enabling real-time interaction of the user with the simulated scene.

SMI Eye Tracking technology for virtual reality offers unmatched benefits for vision and perception research and gaze interaction in head mounted displays (HMDs), such as the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset. SMI will show demos of eye tracking in HMDs at the Vision Sciences Society (VSS) Annual Meeting, held in St. Pete Beach, FL, USA May 16-21.

SMI Eye Tracking Glasses, leading wearable eye tracking technology, has gained the confidence of trend setting customers around the globe such as Google, Daimler, HP, Samsung, the NASA, Max Planck Institute, and many more. Instant setup and ease of use is paired with unmatched binocular eye tracking performance. Thanks to optical head tracking targets and the SMI VRPN server, SMI Eye Tracking Glasses allow partners like WorldViz to incorporate 6D gaze vectors in their own software in order to display gaze on objects and enable gaze interaction in the virtual reality applications. Moreover, the eye tracker detects the eye distance of the wearer, which allows to optimize the 3D experience for individual physiognomies.

About WorldViz

WorldViz is the only 3D visualization company in the world offering its own interactive 3D content creation software platform, and real-time motion tracking product series. Its Vizard VR Software Toolkit permits users to build applications that provide them with the best experiences across virtual reality immersive technologies such as displays and sensors.

Dr. Arnd Rose, Product Manager, SensoMotoric Instruments: “Eye tracking technology offers undeniable benefits to virtual reality applications – starting from feedback on visual attention up to numerous gaze interaction possibilities. Integration of SMI eye tracking into Vizard, the VR community’s favoured 3D content creation software, allows users to successfully employ all these functions.”

Matthias Pusch, VP Sales, WorldViz: “Our technology is designed to help people and businesses understand critical tasks and risks better. The integration of SMI eye tracking enables an instant response of users to a simulation – naturally triggered by the eye gaze. Therefore, the integration of SMI Eye Tracking Glasses into Vizard was a logical step in our development. ”

Learn more about SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) here.
Learn more about SMI Eye Tracking Glasses here.