Japanese engineer says “You have a disgusting face” Eye tracking add-on for Quest 3

A Japanese engineer says he’s making a face and eye-tracking add-on for the Quest 3, however critical issues have been raised concerning the undertaking.

The engineer, whose title is Nami, studied laptop imaginative and prescient at college and is at present working at a Japanese car firm. He requested VRChat consumer bbbbb_himiko to advertise the product on social media and known as their crew Vlugin.

Vlugin calls its gadget the EF Tracker, and claims it will likely be an adjunct for the Meta Quest 3 that provides each eye monitoring and facial monitoring through three cameras and a set of infrared LEDs. Nevertheless, there are a number of causes to be skeptical about EF Tracker.

First, Vlugin as a crew was really shaped in 2023, when it was supposed to accomplice with Japanese startup diVRse, which sells prescription lens inserts known as VRsatile, that are suitable with any headset that helps glasses. I used to be there. On the time, Vlugin supposed its product to be a variant of VRsatile with added eye monitoring performance known as VRsatile Eye C.

However two days in the past, Vlugin introduced that this partnership was “ending” and that they have been as a substitute constructing an EF Tracker particularly for this Quest 3. The machine translation of the announcement appears like this:

”diVRse Inc. supplied enter on the present standing of the Vlugin crew, and diVRse Inc. expressed its intention to maneuver ahead with in-house improvement with a brand new improvement accomplice. In response, the Vlugin crew acknowledged that the 2 events had totally different targets and determined to terminate the cooperative relationship.”

The top of Vlugin’s partnership with an organization with years of expertise delivery equipment for VR does not essentially encourage confidence, particularly contemplating Vlugin. is made up of just one engineer and at present solely exhibits renderings of the brand new EF Tracker, not a prototype.

Moreover, Vlugin seems to have used open supply eye-tracking software program with out license or attribution.

Vlugin says on its web site that it “develops {hardware} and software program.” However the lead developer of EyeTrackVR, an open supply undertaking used to efficiently retrofit eye monitoring into headsets just like the Quest 2 and Bigscreen Past, notes that the monitoring visualization overlay within the backside proper of Vlugin’s solely demo video is He instructed UploadVR that he believes it to be the identical as: Eye monitor VR.

The developer, who goes by the deal with Prohurtz, mentioned in a public reply on X that he confronted Vlugin over the problem, and that Vlugin claimed it was an “impartial improvement.” When Prohurtz identified that the interface was an identical to EyeTrackVR, Vlugin reportedly deleted the put up.

Vlugin has been accused of doing the identical with facial monitoring utilizing the open supply undertaking Undertaking Babble, which at present up to date its GitHub web page to not enable business use with out a license. I made that clear.

However to make issues worse, the {hardware} Vlugin makes use of might not be secure for the human eye. A number of VR consultants, together with Prohurtz and lead developer of ALVR’s visionOS port, have famous that the digicam sensor utilized in EF Tracker is uncommon in comparison with the varieties of digicam sensors utilized in present VR eye monitoring. I’m conscious that it appears large. Prohurtz believes he has recognized it as an off-the-shelf sensor and IR lighting board utilized in DIY Arduino and Raspberry Pi tasks. It is “not designed for eye monitoring,” he says, and says he is examined it himself.

To make sure that the sensor can clearly see the attention, Vlugin makes use of infrared illumination and brightness that’s a number of occasions stronger than the {hardware} really useful by EyeTrackVR and meets the really useful eye security degree for long-term publicity. says Prohurtz. Discomfort and elevated danger of cataracts on account of corneal harm. ”Profurz mentioned that testing on the committee brought about “speedy dryness and straining of the eyes.” The EyeTrackVR neighborhood has put a whole lot of effort into researching and warning concerning the security of IR emitters.

Nevertheless, Vlugin is not the one crew claiming to be constructing an eye-tracking add-on for the Quest 3. Final yr, a startup known as Inseye launched a $160 eye-tracking add-on known as Lumi. It makes use of cheap mild sensors as a substitute of cameras and requires a lot much less computation, vitality, and price. Nevertheless, the corporate has not supplied any updates on its progress since September.

Inseye Lumi is a $160 eye-tracking add-on for Quest 2 and three

Inseye plans to launch a $160 eye-tracking add-on for the Quest 2 and Quest 3, however there isn’t any particular schedule.

Additionally, do not get your hopes up from Meta’s official eye monitoring add-on. The corporate’s chief expertise officer beforehand dismissed that chance, calling the Quest 3 “unreliable,” and mentioned that the official face-tracking add-on could be ineffective with out eye monitoring.

Nevertheless, HTC has managed to launch an eye-tracking and face-tracking add-on for the Vive Focus 3, suggesting that Meta may most likely make it occur if it actually needed to.

Meta shoots down prospects for Quest 3 eye monitoring addon

Meta’s CTO dismissed the opportunity of a Quest 3 eye-tracking add-on. He mentioned:

Vlugin just isn’t accepting pre-orders for EF Tracker and has not introduced pricing or a launch schedule. Given our issues concerning this undertaking, we strongly suggest that you don’t order it at the moment, even when it turns into obtainable sooner or later.