Google acquires eye-tracking startup Eyefluence, may use tech for Daydream VR

Google has bought Eyefluence, a startup company that is pioneering a new form of human-computer interface based on the tracking of eye movement. Although the exact motivation behind Google's move is unclear at the moment, it may very well have something to do with the Daydream VR platform.

The acquisition has been announced officially by Eyefluence on its website:



Eyefluence's innovative user interface allows for VR headsets to use eye tracking as an input method for things such as cursor movements, which could be critical in the streamlining of various types of interfaces for use in virtual reality, thus minimizing the need of external input devices.

Other uses for eye tracking in virtual reality include selective rendering of complex scenes, among other things. In order to create the illusion of depth, virtual reality necessitates that every scene is rendered twice, from slightly different angles for each eye, which could be very straining on the hardware pulling all the strings. Eye tracking could be employed for selective rendering techniques — i.e. portions of the scene outside of the user's main focal point could be rendered in lower resolutions on the fly — in order to improve overall performance without sacrificing visual fidelity.