Virtual reality is a big topic for the market these days and many companies besides Oculus are following the trend. At Engadget Expand virtual reality did play a significant role with two companies, Dodocase and Fove, showing their very different approach to virtual reality.
Dodocase is the complete low cost approach to a virtual display solution. With a price tag of $25 ($20 at the show), the entry fee is indeed very low. For the $25 you get a cardboard box that houses your smartphone and creates, via two lenses, a three dimensional experience.
Since the image is created by the smartphone, the content is available via an app that can be downloaded from various app stores.
Dodcase’s product is more of a ‘learn what a virtual headset is’ rather than something to use. However, it actually works pretty well and the loaded app allowed for several minutes of virtual reality entertainment.
Fove, on the other hand, is a Japan-based start up company (founded in 2014) that aims to create the next step of virtual reality headset. In addition to a sleek headset complete with all the displays, the company incorporated eye tracking technology that allows users not only to focus on certain parts of the image, but also to trigger certain functionality.
The following short video shows what Fove has in mind http://tinyurl.com/o2nlmn7
This is a very polished version of what you experience, however since their first application target seems to be gaming, it is a more than appropriate representation. The company uses the focal plane of the eyes as a way to identify what exactly the user is looking at. While at first this is a little creepy, it becomes more intriguing after using it for a while. (This is another technology to reach reality after just being highlighted in the Iron Man movies!)
Fove also sees other uses for this technology for 346 that cannot use their hands, for example. The company is also looking at other interaction possibilities in computer interaction and communication. In an augmented reality version, it could mean additional information is only provided about objects, places and 346 one is looking at instead of information pushed by an advertising network, for example.
Fove is not available yet, but the company is part of the Microsoft Ventures London Accelerator Program, a program that helps promising start-ups to shorten their time to the market. – Norbert Hildebrand
