Eye-tracking virtual reality headset Fove 0 now available for pre-order at $550

Ever wish your HTC Vive or Oculus Rift could stare into your eyes with infrared sensors? Well, Fove VR is set to offer that functionality with its upcoming VR headset, the Fove 0, which is now available for pre-order. Currently priced at a special introductory rate of $550, prices will jump up on November 9, so get in there early.

In order to keep an eye on your eyes, the Fove VR headset uses an infrared tracking system to not only detect your eye movement and adjust your VR experience but also to represent your eye movements on your avatar.

For instance, in multiplayer VR experiences, your character’s eyes will move like your own, making your virtual form more lifelike. Additionally, the eye tracking will reportedly be used for a technique called “foveated rendering,” which could improve your VR headset’s performance.

To take advantage of these features, you will need to shell out a reasonable amount for the VR headset. Priced at $550 at its special pre-order price, the Fove 0 is a little cheaper than the base bundle for the Oculus Rift. However on November 9, when that offers ends, it will cost the same: $600.

It does come with some advantages over the Oculus headset, though. The screen is of a slightly higher resolution, and of course the eye tracking and its benefits are the big addition. Foveated rendering could go a long way to bring down the system requirements for it, too.

Foveated rendering will use eye-tracking to determine what you are looking at and reallocate rendering resources accordingly — making the stuff you are looking at look better. According to Road To VR, the Fove eye-tracking will also be used to make UI selections, target enemies, create dynamic depth of field, and trigger context-sensitive events within the VR environment.

As cool as that sounds, the Fove VR headset does fall down in some areas compared to its previously released contemporaries. The specifications suggest it has a weaker refresh rate than both, and is heavier than the Rift, though is slightly lighter than the Vive.

The Fove 0 technical specs are as follows:

It is worth noting, however, that the Fove 0 headset is meant to be on par with the Oculus Rift’s development kit releases — and is considered a starting point for the company to build off of for the future.

Updated on 2016-11-02 by Jon Martindale — added pricing, announced pre-orders.