Tobii, an eye tracking solutions developer, is engaging in research collaboration with Valve and OpenBCI by incorporating Tobii’s eye tracking technology with elements of Valve’s Index hardware to produce developer units for the recently announced Galea Beta Program.
“We are excited to work with Valve and OpenBCI to explore the future of immersive gaming by combining the power of Tobii eye tracking and OpenBCI’s advanced brain computer interface technology,” said Anand Srivatsa, Division CEO of Tobii Tech.
OpenBCI is an advanced technology company providing an open-source platform for applications related to brain computer interfacing (BCI).
Valve, one of the most influential companies in the gaming industry, has long been a pioneering force for the evolution of immersive gaming, entertainment content delivery, and the advancement of virtual reality hardware and experiences.
Galea is a hardware and software platform that merges next-generation biometrics with mixed reality. It is the first device that integrates EEG, EMG, EOG, EDA, PPG, and image based eye-tracking into a single headset. The Galea Beta units will be built with elements from the Valve Index VR hardware.
Developers interested in using the OpenBCI Galea headset to explore how neurotechnology can bring about the next generation of immersive digital experiences are invited to visit OpenBCI’s beta project website. Initial developer units are expected to ship in limited quantities to beta program participants in early 2022.
The VR market is poised to grow into several tens of million units in volumes over the next three to five years, which represents an attractive opportunity for Tobii.
Tobii does not consider this collaboration as an official design win at this stage.