Sony wants to get developers excited about VR and eye-tracking. Experiments from Global Game Jam 2022 could benefit PSVR 2.
What tricks can creative minds come up with for eye-tracking in VR? Sony's planned Playstation VR 2 VR goggles will support eye-tracking. The indie-friendly gaming company is therefore sponsoring a corresponding section of the "Global Game Jam" (GGJ 2022), which starts today. Developers are to give their project VR support and/or implement eye-tracking at the developer competition.
The VR games developed in 24 hours are based on the overarching theme of "duality". Participants can specialize with so-called "diversifiers": Those who want to increase the challenge and take their own paths can thus try their hand at additional challenges.
Sony's "Be a Visionary" category has the following precondition: "Enable VR support in your game and/or implement eye-tracking as part of your gameplay."
Playstation VR 2: Game ideas for eye-tracking.
Of course, the projects at the event are not yet being developed for Sony's future headset. After all, there's no release date for Playstation VR 2 yet - and the design isn't known either.
So for now, the eye-tracking experiments are being developed for VR glasses on the PC that support the technology out of the box or via add-on, or for dedicated eye-tracking hardware on the monitor. Glasses with eye-tracking include the HTC Vive Pro Eye and the HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition. Meta's upcoming Cambria premium headset also relies on eye-tracking.
Sony will want to get developers excited about the potential of eye-tracking with its Game Jam support, and of course, create ideas and good examples for other studios. Eye-tracking is considered the cornerstone of a new generation of VR experiences - but the software to prove it has yet to be invented.
Concepts for new VR hardware wanted
The starting signal for the GGJ 2022 fell on Thursday, January 20, at 5 pm. In total, the 24-hour marathon will last ten days, but depending on the "jam site" chosen, it will start on a different date. Those who want to take part in Germany can find 24 of the total 681 GGJ sites here.
Many of the events are held at universities - sometimes in a face-to-face format, elsewhere virtually, or in a hybrid model. Click here for the list of sponsored diversifiers, from which all participants can pick up to four.
Read more about Sony:
- Playstation VR: 2021 charts show what Sony desperately needs to change
- Does chewing gum help against VR motion sickness?
- Playstation VR 2: Big reveal in February?