Eye Tracking in Virtual Reality: Vive Pro Eye Spatial Accuracy, Precision, and Calibration Reliability

Area of Science:

• Virtual Reality (VR) and Human-Computer Interaction
• Oculomotor and Cognitive Neuroscience Research

Background:

• Virtual reality (VR) devices increasingly incorporate eye tracking for research and applications like foveated rendering.
• Manufacturer-reported eye tracking performance metrics may not reflect real-world conditions or variability across sessions and devices.
• The influence of vision correction on eye tracking accuracy and precision in VR is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure the spatial accuracy and precision of the Vive Pro Eye's built-in eye tracker.
• To assess the reliability of eye tracking calibration across multiple sessions and participants.
• To investigate how eye tracking performance varies with gaze eccentricity, vision correction, and between different VR headsets.

Main Methods:

• Spatial accuracy and precision of the Vive Pro Eye were measured across 30 visual degrees.
• Ten measurement sessions were conducted over multiple days for 30 participants.
• Performance was evaluated with and without vision correction (contacts, glasses) and across two Vive Pro Eye headsets.

Main Results:

• Eye tracking accuracy and precision were highest for central gaze, decreasing with eccentricity.
• Calibration was successful for all participants, but wearing glasses significantly reduced performance.
• Differences in accuracy (not precision) were observed between the two Vive Pro Eye headsets.

Conclusions:

• The Vive Pro Eye eye tracker demonstrates high calibration reliability for VR research.
• Gaze eccentricity and vision correction (especially glasses) impact eye tracking performance.
• These findings provide a baseline for expected eye tracking performance in VR experiments.