Lemnis Technologies wants to beat Oculus to the punch with varifocal VR technology.
The company today announced that it will launch a new software and hardware platform simply named Verifocal at SIGGRAPH 2018 in Vancouver next week. The platform uses two eye-tracking cameras integrated into a headset to adjust the focus of where you’re looking in VR in real-time, creating a clearer image.
Varifocal technology has a lot of potential benefits for VR, though Lemnis says its solution is designed to combat eye-strain and reduce sickness inside VR as a result. The platform can even accommodate prescriptions, meaning users can take off their glasses inside a headset.
It doesn’t sound like this solution will actually adjust the distance of a VR display from your eyes based on where you’re looking, though we’ve reached out to Lemnis to clarify. That’s what happens in Oculus’ recently revealed Half-Dome prototype, which is the result of years of R&D work from the Facebook Reality Labs team. Still, we have no idea when we’ll see those features in a consumer Oculus headset, whereas Lemnis’ solution sounds like it could be closer to home.
At SIGGRAPH, Verifocal will be shown running in a headset based off of Microsoft’s Windows ‘Mixed Reality’ VR headsets. Attendees will be able to order an evaluation kit during the show. As for when and where we’ll see the tech integrated into a consumer device, that’s still up in the air.
