Oculus, the virtual reality company Facebook acquired for $2 billion in early 2014, has acquired The Eye Tribe, a 16-person startup that builds eye-tracking software.
Facebook’s Oculus has acquired an eye-tracking startup called The Eye Tribe
The companies aren’t sharing deal terms.
Kevork Djansezian / Getty
An Oculus spokesperson confirmed the acquisition but declined to comment on other details, including deal terms and how many of The Eye Tribe’s employees are joining Oculus.
It isn’t difficult to speculate on how Oculus might use eye-tracking technology. Imagine navigating a virtual reality dashboard without the need to move your head. Or having a conversation with another virtual reality avatar that includes details like where you’re actually looking.
Plus there are business benefits to this kind of technology. Facebook makes the vast majority of its revenue from advertising, and it’s assumed that ads will eventually make it into the virtual world as well. Tracking what users actually look at in VR could be key for measuring and delivering better advertisements.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
