Oculus buys open source supporting, eye-tracking startup, The Eye Tribe

To expand its presence in the world of virtual reality (VR), Facebook-owned Oculus has acquired The Eye Tribe. The Danish startup is known for its eye-tracking hardware and is equally popular for open source software that has helped many developers build different eyetracking applications.

Founded back in 2011 by alumni of the IT University of Copenhagen, The Eye Tribe offers eye-tracking technology to developers. The startup also designs affordable eye trackers that would be the main point of focus for Oculus.

“The Eye Tribe intends to become the leading provider of eye control technology by licensing to vendors in the consumer technology industry,” stated

The Eye Tribe on its official website.

The Eye Tribe was initially powering native hardware, but it recently extended its presence and started supporting some ongoing VR developments. At the Mobile World Congress last year, the company showcased its eye-tracking solution on Samsung GearVR. Alongside hardware, The Eye Tribe is enabling eye-tracking among various software solutions. The startup has its open source ITU Gaze

Tracker framework that provides eye tracking over off-the-shelf components such as webcams and video cameras. This solution is touted to be the “most popular open source eye-tracking software” for developers.

This acquisition could set the tone for the next level of VR.