Learn more about how eye tracking plays a critical role in SeeReal 3D holographic technology for in-vehicle displays.

“SeeReal needed a competent and professional partner, and they chose Smart Eye. The reason is that Smart Eye can provide an eye-tracking solution (both hardware and software) that meets the strict requirements for operating holographic 3D display applications. Smart Eye Pro provides true 3D pupil tracking with precise metric positions (X, Y + Z) with at least 2 cameras and also fulfills the requirements to be implemented in 3D holographic displays.”

— Enrico Zschau, Head of Software Engineering & IT at SeeReal Technologies GmbH

Background

Every year, distracted drivers account for about 2.5 million car crashes worldwide.

SeeReal Technologies, a design house with minority investment from Volkswagen, derives key know-how to make driving even safer and more convenient in the future. The company has designed a true 3D holographic system that presents information in the driver’s line of sight.

The main reasons to use such a floating Heads Up Display (HUD) are to reduce inattention-related traffic accidents and to improve the driving experience by providing point-of-interest or navigational data. The driver will be presented with information regardless of where he or she is currently looking.

The Problem

One of the challenges to enable this technology was to determine exactly the eye pupil location in X, Y, Z space related to the holographic 3D display. This is required to provide real holographic 3D information with millimeter-level precision directly to the pupils of the eyes. Key to that challenge are low latency and high reliability of the processing chain.

To realize their vision, SeeReal had previously developed a good working custom eye-tracking solution, but research and development in the field of eye tracking is not SeeReal’s core competence. They began their search for a competent and professional partner who could provide an eye-tracking solution (both hardware and software) while also meeting the strict requirements for holographic 3D display applications.

The Solution

SeeReal first got experience with an earlier model of Smart Eye Pro, which they observed could do the job. The Smart Eye head and eye tracker can deliver both eye position and gaze direction.

The robust Smart Eye Pro dx and Smart Eye XO systems operate with sufficient accuracy and offer sufficient data availability for a substantial portion of the population. No other eye tracker on the market can perform at this high level. Smart Eye can deliver this unique performance because we have worked with the automotive industry for over 20 years. The eye-tracking algorithms have been continuously improved, and today they work with multiple Smart Eye systems, including the latest release.

The Results

Though they evaluated other technology providers (such as Tobii Pro), SeeReal chose the Smart Eye Pro solution for its ability to provide true 3D pupil tracking with precise metric positions (X, Y, and Z), low latency, and high reliability (few dropped frames). Smart Eye Pro also meets the requirements for implementation in 3D holographic displays.

With these results, SeeReal was able to focus on developing holographic 3D solutions and no longer needed to invest in its own eye-tracking development, as the Smart Eye commercial system met its needs. At the latest exhibition with a large audience, Smart Eye Pro did a great job tracking each visitor trying out their holographic 3D HUD demonstrator. SeeReal’s eye-tracked 3D holography enables viewers to see live action 3D holograms with all natural visual cues, incl. free eye focus, convergence, and look around exactly as experienced with natural viewing in daily life.

Further development talks are in place with car integration, including a smaller form factor, embedded software, and software features like auto user profile setup, automatic tracking, and possibly simultaneous multi-user tracking–required for other display applications in addition to automotive.