HTC is one of the leading VR companies looking to innovate our immersive experiences, which is why they announced their plans to release a Lip Tracking module for their most premium headset.
The HTC Vive Pro Eye Lip Tracking module will accurately gather data about everything you do with your mouth while in a VR headset and will be part of the larger facial tracking SDK they’re working on. This module doesn’t have a set release date and isn’t intended to be a consumer product. The Lip Tracking module is designed for developers and researchers who are interested in experimenting with new advancements in VR headsets.
When paired with the Vive Pro Eye’s eye-tracking feature, the lip tracking module can help developers of VR applications reach new levels of immersion and realism. Hyper-Realistic Avatars will mimic the eye and mouth movement of their players and advancements like that require advanced headsets with experienced developers. Mouth tracking technology is already widely available thanks to apps like Snapchat, Apple’s Memoji, Samsung’s AR Emoji, and is even found in some video games like Star Citizen, which means it shouldn’t be too long before we start seeing mouth tracking in VR games or other XR content.
Consumers should expect the technology to trickle down into more affordable headsets because for some, this is a must-have technology that will enrich the immersive experience and be a key selling point for hardware.
Developers should embrace mouth tracking because outside of gaming and immersion, the technology could be used for research and rehabilitation of those with communicative deficiencies, and as part of training simulations in the workforce.