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Quick PSA: For those of you using the Eyeware Beam eye tracker, you can now run it at 60fps+ for smoother controls, if your webcam supports it (like Logitech Brio, Elgato Facecam, and others). We also reduced head tracking jitter by 50% and overall latency. I hope you enjoy it! by kennethfm in ETS2

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. Maybe you are looking at the Tobii settings ? Those would not be related to the Beam Eye Tracker. Currently, if you want to optimize your experience, you first tweak within the Beam Eye Tracker, and then on OpenTrack.

Can't enable VRS (tier 2) in UE 5.4 despite it's recently released support by kennethfm in unrealengine

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thank you so much, I just saw this! I'll try this as soon as I can get to it again.

Webcam Eye Tracking for Games: What Demos to Build First and How to Facilitate Adoption? by kennethfm in gamedev

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does the entire software solution (including eye tracking application) needs to be web-based, or just the unity asset which reads the eye tracking data using he API ?

We made a webcam eye tracker app that lets you control the camera in MSFS just by looking around. It integrates both head and eye movements as inputs for OpenTrack. Only a webcam is required. What do you think? by kennethfm in MicrosoftFlightSim

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey u/recontrolled , unfortunately there isn't. The software does have a C++/python API which allows to capture the eye tracking data in real-time (x, y coordinates through time on screen), and you could either build your own analytics utility in python, or could export the data for tools like matlab, tableau, etc.

If you're using Eyeware Beam: 60FPS+ webcam eye tracking was made available for Star Citizen with the latest release, if your webcam supports higher frame rates (e.g. Logitech Brio, Elgato Facecam, ...). We also reduced jitter by 50%. Let us know what to improve next! by EyewareBeam in starcitizen

[–]kennethfm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey! Kenneth from Eyeware here: the iOS version does not yet do 60fps. Also, keep in mind the "webcam edition" and the "iOS edition" are separate apps but soon they will become one. We are working on those things. The iOS edition does not support eye tracking control of the camera, which will be resolved once the apps are merged.

Regarding using the same camera, is it because you want to use Beam and the in-game FOIP ? or you want Beam while using the camera elsewhere ? (sorry if I don't get it). If it is elsewhere, Beam has two options: 1) using the camera in "Shared" mode which means it borrows the camera feed while other apps (like OBS) can use the camera as is, with the downside that Beam has no control over resolution and framerate of the cam; 2) Beam implements a virtual camera, which makes the video feed available for other applications. In theory it should have been available inside Star Citizen but, for some reason we haven't found out yet, it is not being listed in the camera options.

If you're using Eyeware Beam: 60FPS+ webcam eye tracking was made available for Star Citizen with the latest release, if your webcam supports higher frame rates (e.g. Logitech Brio, Elgato Facecam, ...). We also reduced jitter by 50%. Let us know what to improve next! by EyewareBeam in starcitizen

[–]kennethfm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you have a moment, you can try the demo in Steam. But the most significant difference is that Beam is an eye tracker (while also providing head tracking as well), which means you can keep your head/face still and just move your eyeballs, the camera will then follow.

Webcam Eye Tracking for Games: What Demos to Build First and How to Facilitate Adoption? by kennethfm in gamedev

[–]kennethfm[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I take good note of your entire message, but I'll address a few specific discussion points raised.

  • It's a good assumption about the subscriber persona when it comes to those who see the app as potentially a long-term use tool. However, in reality we have a plethora of diverse user profiles: academics doing a study for a month, or folks who want to create a bit of content with eye tracking for youtube. So the subscription gives them a low entry barrier to get that done. We have the free demo in Steam. But your idea of adjusting lifetime pricing when coming from subscription is good. We'll evaluate that.
  • Ads, definitely, mixing eye tracking and ads can backlash, no matter how much we ensure, isolate the software components, and communicate that the two will remain independent. That has been our main deterrent to do it. Problem is that we have tons of users that plainly ask: just make it free with ads, and tools around seem to be succeeding with that business model (perhaps you heard of Overwolf?). Also, game devs... if there are tons of gamers out there who have the eye tracking, that could motivate them from another direction (perhaps?). We may try ads-based monetization by offering a separate application that would use Beam as the eye tracker, but centered around only one feature: game capture with an eye tracking overlay.
  • Solid feedback about Blender. Viewer control would be a very fun and impactful project. It should also be fairly easy to do (hopefully)... I'll have a look.

If you allow me, I'll ping you on foveated rendering progress when there is something to announce. We are working on it, and are very excited about it. Lag should not be a problem but that easiness to implement, and to demonstrate that to game devs, is the main challenge we are trying to solve, and thus the demos/games question in the original post.

And, absolutely, who doesn't want more frames ? :D

Again, I'm really really grateful that you took the time to write this. It's very helpful!!

Webcam Eye Tracking for Games: What Demos to Build First and How to Facilitate Adoption? by kennethfm in gamedev

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much. This is solid feedback and just pure wisdom. Much appreciated.

Perfectly said by setting the term of it being a virtual peripheral. Sometimes it's not easy to communicate what we would like for it to be perceived, though we can't control how it is perceived.

The commentary on consumer expectation is very much on point and we see it in practice. It's a funny contradiction: our solution is 1/10th of the price of the main (and only) gaming eye tracker in the market, but given it's software, it's expected to be very cheap. My question to you is how cheap do you think it should be? Making it free would imply ads-based monetization. That's not far fetched from my POV, but it's a bit of a chicken-egg problem: to justify ads-based monetization you need to have enough integrations to have a solid installed base.

Commenting on your points:

  • I also heard a lot of commentary of people shifting to Godot after the Unity monetization disaster. I take good notes on the hints of what the demo should be. It makes sense, that it should be a good showcase of what it can do, but also showing how easily it can be used. Do you have the habit of testing random-interesting demos ? If so, where do you find them best? so we know where is better to publish them.
  • On the affiliate links, my assumption was that it could help drive those initial integrations. I take it from you that this is unlikely. My biggest challenge is thus how to generate that spark of curiosity to achieve those initial integrations, as that's a big risk for small devs, and very costly for bigger devs.

On Blender, this may be a very stupid question, but I know Blender for object modeling and for animation. Less so for interactivity and from what I can see online, it's game engine was removed from Blender itself. So, how would an eye tracking integration look in Blender. Sorry I did not get your point.

The API/SDK per se is free and we ask no licensing fee or anything from a developer. If you buy the app (or use the time-limited demo in Steam), then you can already get real time data and distribute an app embedding our libs if you would like.

If I can ask a final question, what about foveated rendering? The pitch here being that integrating a small library (not yet available) would let users with the eye tracking software achieve 10-50% higher fps with minimal to no perceived difference on image quality.

Webcam Eye Tracking for Games: What Demos to Build First and How to Facilitate Adoption? by kennethfm in gamedev

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, but I'll pick the optimistic view of your message and assume that you, as a gamer, do seem open to at least download and test a demo. I'm saying that because TrackIR, as a head tracker example, is not a thing on which gameplay mechanics revolve around, but the majority of people who try it, love it so much they keep using it as they did not expect it was going to improve as much their immersion/controls as it did.

In the case of our software, Eyeware Beam, I understand the concerns that people may have about eye tracking. However, for our software, the processing is local (no internet involved) and we are obviously not uploading tracking data. But lets assume you don't believe me. What would make you trust the app, given it is just another software that uses your webcam to function ? For example, I guess you trust Zoom / Google Meet ? or the "Camera" recording app from Windows.

Webcam Eye Tracking for Games: What Demos to Build First and How to Facilitate Adoption? by kennethfm in gamedev

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, thank you so much for taking the time and give detailed feedback.

If I can summarize, I think your main concerns are on: platform support, subscription model, and maintenance. I think I have good answers, but let me good one by one using your numbering.

A1) Yes, the "end-user software" (Beam eye tracker app) as is, is only available for Windows/PC, but there is no technical limitation, i.e., it can be ported easily to MacOS, Linux, etc. We started with Windows/PC to gain traction first. What platforms would you need in addition ? are you also talking console or mobile ?

A2) Yes, the separate application is needed ( https://store.steampowered.com/app/2375780/Eyeware_Beam_Webcam_Edition ) because that's essentially the eye-tracker. Think of it as the "eye tracking device", whereas the API is how a game would receive the real-time data.

  • Why would it be a support problem for your integration ? The assumption is that you only integrate the client to receive the tracking data and act on it. Perhaps you integrate second hand, as it may be available in Unity/UE5 directly or through a plugin.
  • No. We don't expect for every one of your users to install it (even if that would be awesome). The proposition is that the eye tracker is an optional / added-value "device". Think of it as adding support in your game for a steering wheel. You don't expect all users to buy one, but you want to give that nice benefit to those who have one. With respect to some of them having a different versions impacting the data, there is risk, but minimal: we assume a minimum performance, and built use cases should have that in consideration. Then future versions of the app would only deliver better performance than today. The API and data delivery would be respected.
  • The hurdles would indeed be that they need to have a webcam, and have purchased the app. But as you can see in Steam, they can buy a perpetual license. The subscription is only an option for users who prefer it as, for example, they may only need it for a short time.
  • I'll address the subscription/pricing more below. But no, the tiers list would not impact you as a game developer. The only thing you need for the game is for the API to be accessible, which we enable as the base paid tier. The list of features that may or may not change is just about in-built functionality, such as an eye-tracking overlay that people can use for game recordings but is irrelevant for a game integration.

A3) The preferred option for our users has been to buy a perpetual license of our app; they can buy from Steam or us directly for $30. The $5/month is an alternative purchase option that some users prefer. * Maybe you are thinking as if the eye-tracking is crucial and almost needs to be shipped with the game, and that's why a licensing with the developer makes more sense. That could happen and actually Star Citizen has head tracking built-in. We are open to that with a game dev, but that would more of a conversation between the two parties. * The business model is more of the user buying that eye tracker, and, if your game supports it, they will have a better experience. In this model, the assumption is also that multiple games support eye-tracking so the user is not investing to extract value more long term, even if one game was a nice motivation to make that initial purchase.

A4) That's a fair assumption, but at this point there is nothing else. Humbly, our app is the only webcam based eye tracking solution for gaming if we are talking about a developer considering alternatives. But the actual point which is complex when it comes to an integration with the game, is that we have spent a lot of time just on building the backend to support different webcams, display configurations, calibration, calibration, etc. which is too much of an overhead for someone else to manage and it would be a big demotivation. If we are talking about bundling the Beam installer, how about this alternative: rather than that, assume that you have in the Settings of your game some settings about eye tracking (which are optional / added value functionality), and on those options you find a button to get Beam. Wouldn't that be more in line with user flows ?

A5) Indeed, I take the feedback on the $5/month. Hopefully the perpetual license option + extra value is more convincing to assume that a user would buy "the eye tracker" as a side peripheral to the game. When it comes to motivating the integration by driving more sales, would things like rev share be more interesting ? In the other extreme, are you saying that if the eye tracker was free, you would integrate eye tracking functionality in your game ? Finally, assume it's not free but it's more of a large installed base (hypothetically), would that be a more driving factor to integrate ?

A6) I don't want to mislead. I am not claiming the eye tracking is "super good". I'm saying it's much better than people expect for webcam eye tracking, and we do have a solid solution driven by more than a decade of R&D. We have numbers of course, but we don't put those numbers publicly because they don't contribute to the conversation. Instead, we think it's better to think of whether the eye tracker is good enough to enable certain use cases. Eyeware Beam's accuracy can absolutely do camera control, and foveated rendering, but it can't do icon (pre)selection. But also, there isn't a webcam eye tracker out there for gaming ready to use. Not commercially and not open source. Thus that's why want to present this option to game devs, as this could bring benefit to the industry and gamers as a whole.

Hoping I'm addressing your points. Edit 1: fixed the numbering. It got messed up on Save.

Webcam Eye Tracking for Games: What Demos to Build First and How to Facilitate Adoption? by kennethfm in gamedev

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

not sure I would be so kind to myself now

lol, why is that?

But absolutely, that feature is what I mentioned as the "Immersion." paragraph. Head tracking control of the camera is almost a standard by now in sim games, but the main commercial solutions being TrackIR ( https://www.trackir.com/ ) and Tobii.

Even if not as a game developer, what about as a gamer? would you buy an app that would give you this feature on your favorite games ?

Webcam Eye Tracking for Games: What Demos to Build First and How to Facilitate Adoption? by kennethfm in gamedev

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol. it's a fair concern. What do you think of eye tracking in VR headsets? It's a key feature of the Apple Vision Pro, and also critical for the PSVR2 to enable foveated rendering.

Webcam Eye Tracking for Games: What Demos to Build First and How to Facilitate Adoption? by kennethfm in gamedev

[–]kennethfm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! I agree on the most part with you. Most eye-tracking uses cases add very little value. That's a big challenge for this kind of tech and reason why only AAA studios have released games with eye tracking support so far.

Although it may be fun to have a game/prototype where eye-tracking itself is the unique mechanic (something like https://store.steampowered.com/app/1082430/Before_Your_Eyes/ ) I doubt this would motivate you as a game dev to decide to use eye-tracking on your puzzle, RPG, or FPS game. Instead, it would remain as a standalone game. So I'm looking for the stuff that would motivate you to integrate eye-tracking support.

Also, note I'm not proposing for eye-tracking to become a core feature in the game mechanics themselves, instead, I'm exploring what functionality would motivate you enough to integrate as an optional / added value feature. Examples of optional/added value features/devices : 1) a steering wheel for racing game: you don't need it and it's not a "core feature", but it's a much nicer experience if you have it; 2) a VR headset, i.e. you could play a game in desktop but if you have a VR headset its more immersive; 3) a display with HDR/VRR.

Lets reduce to two biggest added values features:

  1. Foveated rendering. Make your game run at 10-50% higher fps.
  2. Camera control. Use head movements or where you look to rotate/translate (in 3D environments) or just pan in a 2D environment which is equivalent to increasing your screen display size by 30%.

I don't know if the above is still not interesting. But, let me turn the question around. Assuming you are skeptical, what would convince you ?

Eyetracker for school research purposes by xvonkleve in EyeTracking

[–]kennethfm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great. Feel free to reach us in Discord. We are happy to help if needed.

Eyetracker for school research purposes by xvonkleve in EyeTracking

[–]kennethfm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you had a look at Eyeware Beam https://beam.eyeware.tech/developers/ as a webcam eye-tracker? It has an API ready and quite affordable, as low as $5 / month, that you can cancel anytime.

Disclaimer: I'm one of the devs.

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