MWC: Mobile Virtual Reality Boosted by SMI's Proven Eye Tracking and Foveated Rendering Technology

BARCELONA, Spain, February 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Samsung Gear VR upgraded with SMI Eye Tracking - enabling a richer user experience and higher performance

Leading innovator in virtual reality SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) has upgraded the Samsung Gear VR to bring eye tracking to mobile VR in a world first.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160222/335612 )

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/mDvgP2tnMHQ

SMI has also successfully integrated foveated rendering into mobile VR enabling a two-fold increase in performance and, in turn, a better VR experience.

These developments, showcased in Barcelona, Spain ahead of the Mobile World Congress, follow SMI's success in developing foveated rendering for PC-based VR. All these innovations are powered by SMI's "works with everyone" consumer-ready eye tracking platform which is proven with more than 100,000 users.

"With mobile VR the experience is only as good as the processing power of a mobile phone," said SMI's Director of OEM Solutions Christian Villwock.

"So these performance-boosting innovations, which we have integrated into standard hardware, allow a mobile VR experience like never before."

Eye tracking for VR enables benefits such as social presence and gaze cursor control. With the upgraded Samsung Gear VR, the user can naturally and intuitively navigate through the content menu just by looking at different options and clicking.

SMI's foveated rendering has been tested and declared a success by leading VR experts. It involves rendering to full resolution only the part of an image that the eye is directly looking at in the VR headset. The challenge, overcome by SMI, was to ensure that the user only ever sees that fully rendered video - no matter how fast the eye moves. As Mr Villwock put it: "If you can't tell the difference, it works."

He added: "Having successfully integrated our globally-respected platform into different PC-based VR systems, mobile VR was a logical next innovation for SMI."

"Our mission is to keep working with the leading names in VR to make these benefits a reality in all next generation headsets."

- Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) -

About SMI 

SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) has been a world leader in eye tracking technology for 25 years, developing and marketing eye & gaze tracking systems for scientists and professionals, as well as OEM and medical solutions for a wide range of applications. Find out more at http://www.smivision.com. Follow @SMIeyetracking on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter.

Media Contacts
SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI)
Tim Stott
+49-(0)-162-271-61-66
[email protected]

SOURCE SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH