Pico Interactive and Tobii Announce World’s First Commercial Standalone VR Headset with Native Eye Tracking

CES 2020 — Pico Interactive, a leading global virtual reality (VR) headset manufacturer, today announced two new standalone VR headsets, the Neo 2 and the Neo 2 Eye. With the integration of advanced eye tracking technology from Tobii, the Neo 2 Eye represents a powerful and intuitive all-in-one headset designed primarily for the enterprise.

“With the Neo 2 Eye, Pico has combined the benefits of Tobii eye tracking with smart design choices and the power of the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 845 Mobile XR Platform,” said Anand Srivatsa, CEO of Tobii Tech. “The result is an innovative and flexible device that sets a clear standard for enterprise-focused standalone VR headsets.”

“The Neo 2 Eye is a VR headset built for business, offering excellent visual quality, great support, and sophisticated design,” said Henry Zhou, CEO of Pico Interactive. “The addition of Tobii eye tracking leads to a more intuitive interface and better graphics performance. Additionally, eye tracking enables user insights that add significant value to use cases such as training and education.”

The new Pico Neo 2 Eye is the first commercially available headset to feature Tobii eye tracking and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile XR Platform.

“Qualcomm Technologies is focused on transforming the way people connect and communicate using XR,” said Hugo Swart, vice president and head of XR, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “We are pleased to be working with Pico and Tobii to help raise the bar for creating great user experiences using our XR technology and Tobii’s high quality gaze interactions to provide enterprise customers with intuitive and visually-immersive interactions.”

Benefits that Tobii eye tracking brings to the Neo 2 Eye include:

• Improved graphics and longer battery life. Powered by Tobii Spotlight Technology™, dynamic foveated rendering on the Neo 2 Eye increases framerates by up to 66% and reduces shading loads by up to 72%*, leading to higher quality visuals and more efficient performance.
• Actionable insights, improved decision making. The Neo 2 Eye can provide important insights regarding user behavior for purposes such as training and assessment, simulation, knowledge and skills transfer, and customer research.
• Immersive and intuitive. With Tobii eye tracking, gaze becomes a natural form of input for the device making even simple interactions such as menu navigation and selection feel seamless and responsive. Additionally, eye tracking technology can enhance social interaction in virtual meetings and environments, leading to increased immersion and providing a true sense of presence.
• One device fits all. Tobii’s integrated eye tracking solution ensures that the Neo 2 Eye works for the widest possible population of users, including people with glasses and contact lenses. As a result, Neo 2 Eye is inclusive, enabling you to confidently and rapidly deploy devices throughout your organization.

To learn more and see additional information about the Neo 2 Eye, please visit https://vr.tobii.com/products/pico-neo-2-eye/.

*Data from the benchmarking test based on dynamic foveation in Tobii’s demo environment ”Spot’s Apartment” and conducted on Pico Neo 2 Eye.