Skip to main content

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.

Recommended Videos

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:

Display 2,560 x 1,440, WQHD OLED
Refresh Rate 70Hz
Field of View Around 90 – 100 degrees
Eye Tracking 120 FPS infrared x2
Head Tracking Rotational, positional
Weight 520g
Audio 3.5mm jack
Connections HDMI 1.4, USB 3.0, USB 2.0
Accessories Positional tracking camera, face cushion

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.

Jaina Grey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jaina Grey is a Seattle-based journalist with over a decade of experience covering technology, coffee, gaming, and AI. Her…
The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 GPU is $100 off, but there’s a catch
The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card on a white background.

Whether you're upgrading your gaming PC's components or your building one from scratch, you should be on the lookout for GPU deals because graphics cards can get pretty expensive. Here's an offer from Newegg that you should consider: the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card with a $100 discount on its original price of $1,360, which means you're only going to have to pay $1,260. It's an open box product though, but if you're fine with that, you should proceed with your purchase immediately as stocks may run out sooner than you expect.

Why you should buy the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card

Read more
OpenAI makes its most advanced coding model available to paid ChatGPT users
ChatGPT models list.

OpenAI has made GPT-4.1 more widely available, as ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users can now access the AI model. 

On Wednesday, the brand announced that it brought the model to its direct chatbot service following its original launch, where it was unveiled as an API in April. Its popularity among developers urged OpenAI to make the model available for paid users. It also plans to roll out GPT-4.1 for ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu users in the coming weeks. 

Read more
Waymo recalled 1,200 robotaxis following collisions with road barriers
Waymo Jaguar I-Pace

Waymo’s autonomous-car technology has made great advances over the years to the point where it’s now allowed to offer paid robotaxi rides in select locations in the U.S.

But the development of the technology is ongoing, and the robotaxi rides continue to gather valuable data for Waymo engineers to pore over as they further refine the driverless system to make it as reliable and efficient as possible. Which is why glitches will sometimes occur.

Read more