Apple's VR headset may feature iris recognition and eye-tracking technology


New rumours about Apple's unconfirmed virtual reality headset have surfaced, pointing towards eye-tracking and iris recognition.

These rumours come from 9to5mac, who reported on comments made by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. According to Kuo, Apple's VR product can detect where the VR user is looking, and if they are blinking.

This feature would be possible through a transmitter and a receiver that detects changes in light reflected off the eyeball, Kuo predicts.

Apple has yet to confirm the existence of its VR headset, however. These rumours gained traction in early February following reports from The Informationon a potential mixed reality headset.

VR Eye-Tracking

Rumours of eye-tracking follow up on previous rumours concerning Apple's headset. According to The Information, the headset will run at 8K resolution and use eye-tracking to output a lower resolution display in areas where out of view.

Eye-tracking could also function as a type of controller, allowing users to select items or buttons based on where they are looking. Currently, most VR headsets require owners to use controllers or hand gestures.

Iris recognition could detect users automatically, acting as security for the headset in the same way Touch ID or Face ID works for other iOS devices.

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More Apple VR Headset Rumours

Alongside this eye-tracking, the Apple VR headset will allegedly include fifteen cameras to give users a 'mixed reality' experience that combines AR and VR.

Featuring a micro-OLED screen, the headset is expected to cost upwards of $1000 and may release as early as 2022.

However, as with all rumours, we'd suggest you take this information with some scepticism. As Apple has yet to confirm the headset exists, we cannot know for sure what its plans are for VR.

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For more articles like this, take a look at our Apple, AR, News, and VR pages.