SMI Eye Tracking and WorldViz Make Researchers Turn to Virtual Reality

BERLIN, Germany and SANTA BARBARA, California, December 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

I/ITSEC 2015: The plug and play integration of HMD Eye Tracking by SensoMotoric Instruments with the Vizard VR toolkit by WorldViz brings the advantages of virtual reality to research and training

SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) and WorldViz announce a plug and play integration of their leading Eye Tracking and VR technologies. With the Vizard VR Software, researchers and professionals can easily design immersive experiments and replicate real-life training scenarios in virtual reality, while SMI HMD Eye Tracking reveals how users interact with the digital world. The SMI/WorldViz toolkit enables groundbreaking setups guaranteeing full experimental control about the simulated environment. Researchers and professionals can assess a person's visual behaviour in alternative scenarios in ways that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. And they can conduct realistic evaluations of possible hazards in safety critical settings which are too dangerous to implement in real-life.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151202/292504 )

To learn more, visit SMI at the I/ITSEC conference, Nov 30-Dec 4, 2015, Orlando/FL, USA 

SMI's unique and proven HMD Eye Tracking records eye movements while a user interacts with the 3D content displayed in a VR headset like the Oculus Rift. To make it easier for researchers and professionals to create engaging VR scenarios, the SMI Plug-in for Vizard will be completely integrated in the installer of the WorldViz 3D design software. No programming is needed to observe eye movements and add gaze interaction elements in VR scenarios. Vizard users can also combine SMI with other plug-ins of the Vizard universe, e.g. for motion controllers, physiological data acquisition solutions and cognitive workload measures.

Watch a video of SMI HMD Eye tracking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx-8Xp1fxgA

Vizard and the WorldViz motion tracking product series also connect plug and play with SMI Eye Tracking Glasses 2w, thus providing insights into attention patterns of users in CAVE environments.

Peter Schlueer, President of WorldViz: "SMI has really done a great job in bringing their proven wearable eye tracking technology to virtual reality headsets. SMI's unique HMD Eye Tracking integration is robust to be used in everyday research and training with many different users. The added value of SMI's eye tracking combined with the ease of use of this integration will make many perception researchers as well as operational safety instructors and other professionals turn to VR."

Dr. Arnd Rose, Product Manager, SensoMotoric Instruments: "With this user-friendly integration, SMI is part of the universe of Vizard, the VR community's favoured 3D content creation software. Eye tracking technology offers undeniable benefits to virtual reality applications - starting from feedback on visual attention, gaze as an intuitive interaction modality, up to optimized 3D rendering. The SMI/WorldViz toolkit will create many new possibilities for VR research and training."

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.

About SMI 

SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) is a world leader in eye tracking technology, developing and marketing eye & gaze tracking solutions for scientists and professionals, 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 Contact
SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI)
Stefanie Gehrke
+49(0)172-3808-537
[email protected]

SOURCE SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI)