“Through collaboration with FOVE, we are the first supplier to provide an eye tracking solution for a VR headset,” said Osram marketing manager Hiroshi Okuma.

The packaged leds are tiny – only 0.5 x 1.0 x 0.45 mm SFH 4053 ChipLEDs, emitting at 850nm to match the tracking camera and over +/-70° to evenly illuminate the eye. Several are mounted around each eye.

Within the headset, users can select or move virtual objects simply by looking at them, or establish eye contact with virtual characters.

In addition, the extra data allows ‘foveated rendering’ to be used where, based on the user’s point-of-gaze, resolution and rendering are adjusted – high in the direct field of vision and low in the periphery. This, according to Osram, significantly reduces demands on computing power and graphic cards.

“One of our main deciding factors was that only very little light lies outside the central emission spectrum and is therefore lost, which meant we could streamline our optical filter design process and maximise our sensor performance,” said Lochlainn Wilson of Fove.

On top of that, several SFH 4253 TopLeds from Osram are mounted around the headset, used to track the user’s position and movements.

They create a pattern of infra-red light dots which are registered and tracked by a camera to determine the user’s movements. Once again, these are 850nm to match the photo sensor.