Google has bought Eyefluence, a company known for the development of series of devices related to tracking eye behavior in virtual and augmented reality applications.Through its website, Eyefluence subtly made their formal announcement about this great change.
Jim Marggraff started the company in 2013. He is a well-ventured entrepreneur who formerly founded Livescribe, which is a smart pen company and was later bought by Anoto. His company is also responsible for the production of the LeadPad tablet for kids. As of now, this company has reached $21.6 million within two rounds, according to Business Insider.
Through Google's ownership of Eyefluence, it marked the company's continuous venture for the improvement of augmented and virtual reality applications. Through Google's acquisition of Eyefluence, it is gearing towards developments for VR to smartphone platforms. Google can make this possible through its new Pixel phone that is enabled by its Daydream VR headset, as posted in En Gadget.
The effect of the integration between Google and Eyefluence has not yet been determined, but it may lead to vast developments of products, strategic forms of services, and improved device features. There are also assumptions that maybe this move of Google is an offset, since Facebook and Microsoft have been continually venturing on research and developments related to their AR and VR applications.
Google has already developed the Daydream View and the Google Cardboard, however the company is also incorporating eye tracking feature and sensors for the purpose of the users' interaction within the virtual space into its new premium standalone headset.
Fove is also another startup company which is also working on VR optics. They are accepting pre-orders starting next month for their own brand of eye-tracking headsets. Eyefluence posted in a blog post that their partnerships will lead them to a new array of development for technology related to eye-tracking. With this kind of combined effort, they will surely be able to uplift the eye-interaction technology on a higher level.
