Prophesee’s partner Zinn Labs announces event-based gaze-tracking system for AI-enabled smart frames and VR/MR systems

Zinn Labs is introducing the industry’s first event-based gaze-tracking system for VR/MR headsets and smart frames. The core enabling feature of event-based sensing is the faster and more efficient capture of the relevant signals for eye tracking.

Kevin Boyle, CEO of Zinn Labs, explains, “Zinn Labs’ event-based gaze-tracking reduces bandwidth by two orders of magnitude compared to video-based solutions, allowing it to scale to previously impractical applications and form factors.”

The low compute footprint of Zinn Labs’ 3D gaze estimation gives it the flexibility to support low-power modes for use in smart wearables that look like normal eyewear. In other configurations, the gaze tracker can enable low-latency, slippage-robust tracking at speeds above 120 Hz for high-performance applications.

Gaze-tracking Applications

Smart eyewear is a rapidly emerging category that can serve as an always-there portal to access generative AI. The attention signal provided by gaze seamlessly connects AI output to the user’s intentions in a variety of application demos provided by Zinn Labs.

As AR and MR computing devices move toward increasingly more intuitive user interfaces, gaze tracking is a prerequisite for several component technologies. For example, gaze is the most natural method of interacting with the digital environment. Zinn Labs leverages the Prophesee GenX320 sensor to offer a high-refresh-rate and low-latency gaze-tracking solution that makes an attractive solution for those looking to push the boundaries of responsiveness and realism of head-worn display devices.