Prophesee, the French developer of event-based neuromorphic vision technology, and Sweden’s Tobii, a company enabling eye-tracking and attention computing capabilities for wearables, said they have partnered for an event-based eye tracking solution tailored for AR/VR and smart eyewear applications.
The announcement comes after Prophesee’s profile has been growing the last two years. The company launched its fifth-generation GenX320 Metavision sensor back in 2023, and not long after partnered with Zinn Labs on an event-based eye-tracking system launched last year.
Event-based vision sensors record and process only changes in a field of vision so they can be more power-efficient and operate with lower latency than traditional image sensors. That fits a major need for small and often battery-constrained smart eyewear.
“Event-based vision is a perfect match for the growing demand for low-power, always-on sensing in next-generation wearable devices,” said Luca Verre, Co-founder and CEO of Prophesee, in a statement. “This partnership builds on a strong foundation of collaboration between our teams and expands our joint capabilities into the eye-tracking space. With Tobii’s proven leadership in eye tracking, combined with our experience in event-based sensing, we aim to set a new standard for what’s possible in AR/VR and smart eyewear.”
“Smart eyewear is one of the most demanding segments for eye tracking—requiring ultra-low power, high performance, and seamless integration into a standard glasses form factor,” said Emma Bauer, Senior Vice President, Integrations at Tobii. “Through partnering with Prophesee, we add event-based sensors as a complement to our existing camera technologies, giving our customers even more options and flexibility when designing their products.”
A Prophesee spokesperson told Fierce Electronics that Prophesee and Tpbii are not ready to announce release timing for a product based on their partnership. She added that the GenX320 is in production and also serving other multiple OEMs.
The partners have another connection: Prophesee and Sony developed sensor technology used for an automotive in-cabin vehicle sensing and driver monitoring offering created by Xperi. That solution was part of the AutoSense business Tobii later acquired from Xperi.