Facebook Aims to Project the User’s Eyes Onto VR Headsets

Credit: Pixabay.com, Eugene Capon

Virtual Reality (VR) is a field that keeps getting a lot of attention, whether we like it or not. Facebook still wants to be very active in this area. As weird as it may sound, Facebook Reality Labs works on an experimental technology for projecting the eyes of the user onto the exterior of the VR headsets.

The news is brought by Pocket-lint.com, and it proves once again that even huge companies have to keep up with the evolution of technology. More precisely, the technology allows users to make eye contact with the ones around them without the need of taking the headset off.

Meet the “reverse passthrough VR” technology

The tracking cameras can also be used for giving a real-time view of the surrounding world. Re-orienting in the playspace as well as seeing people around while playing will become possible.

Stereo cameras are used on the inside of the headset for capturing an image of the user’s eyes, as well as of the face. Tracking the motion inside the headset also kicks in. The result is further shown on a field display and giving the illusion of eye contact.

According to CNN, Facebook recently announced that it’s temporarily pausing the sales of the Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets. Furthermore, the company is recalling a component from roughly 4 million of such devices. Facebook’s decision comes after over 5,000 users reported skin irritation and 45 users required medical attention because of the “removable foam facial interfaces”.

Perhaps the most interesting area when it comes to VR is gaming. Even so, VR gaming is not too popular compared to the total gaming market, which is a surprising fact. However, the popularity of this type of gaming is expected to grow a lot in the near future.

Sawyer Alim
Sawyer is our team's tech specialist. He's constantly looking for new technologies to try them out and later present to our readers. Sawyer is just getting his start as a journalist, but has over 5 years experience at a tech company.