Virtual reality: Facebook is working on a headset that allows you to see the user’s eyes

VR headsets are said to cut off from the outside world. But what if you could see the eyes of the helmet wearer? Impossible ? Within the Facebook Reality Labs, the team of Nathan Matsuda However, is working on several prototypes of VR helmets allowing the eyes and pupil movements of the helmet wearer to be displayed outwards!

No magic here, but two cameras located inside the helmet and aimed at the user’s eyes. The eye movements are scanned in real time and this data is used to animate a pair of realistic 3D eyes which is displayed on one or two screens placed on the visor of the helmet (system of reverse passthrough). The result is quite strange, almost dystopian and disturbing indeed. In the end, we wonder if a conventional headset is not better than this cyberpunk hack.

Facebook is not the first company to make face tracking inside the VR headset. HTC recently launched the VIVE Facial Tracker, an accessory that scans the movements of the mouth to apply them to those of a VR avatar.