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‘Watch Dogs 2’ and ‘Steep’ for PC to support Tobii’s eye-tracking tech at launch

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Watch Dogs 2
Eye tracking tech developer Tobii said on Wednesday that it teamed up with Ubisoft to provide support for its eye-tracking tech in Watch Dogs 2 and Steep on PC. While gamers won’t be completely hands-free when hacking electronics or skiing down slopes, the tech is expected to help make gameplay less constrained and automatic, and free up some additional space on the screen by moving some of the controls to the eyes.

For instance, eye tracking will provide “natural targeting” in Watch Dogs 2. Players can move in one direction using a controller or mouse-keyboard combo, and look in another direction to interact with a hackable object. Extended View enhances gameplay by allowing players to more easily track enemy movement, and making weapon aiming more fluid and lifelike.

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In the case of Steep, eye tracking removes the need for a cluttered, on-screen user interface, providing more screen real estate and plenty of visuals to explore. The game utilizes Extended View, Free View, and Clean UI that increases the camera outlook without the player losing sight of the character. The Extended View aspect even uses head-tracking technology while Mountain View provides gaze-enabled interactions.

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“We’re excited to add two more AAA titles to our game portfolio and provide gamers even more opportunities to experience real eye tracking immersion,” said Oscar Werner, president of Tobii Tech. “Games like Watch Dogs 2 and Steep are concrete examples of the intuitive nature of eye tracking and demonstrate its application across a diversity of genres, too.”

News of supporting eye tracking technology in Watch Dogs 2 and Steep arrives before the launch of the Tobii Eye Tracker 4C, which will be compatible with both games on PC. Shipping on November 25 for $150, the system provides simultaneous head and eye tracking for PC gamers to generate a more immersive experience, and finally take some of the controls away from the player’s hands.

Tobii’s eye-tracking tech is essentially broken down into four specific factors: natural targeting, infinite screen, immersive graphics, and gaze awareness. On the natural targeting aspect, instead of gamers moving the weapon crosshairs over an enemy using a mouse, they simply look at the target and press the fire button: no mouse movement needed. As for gaze awareness, this feature causes the environment to react to the player’s gaze (like an opening monster plant ready to eat your face).

The upcoming Tobii Eye Tracker 4C will be supported by a huge list of PC games when it arrives later this month outside Watch Dogs 2 and Steep. These include Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, DayZ, Arma 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, Tom Clancy’s The Division, and many more.

Watch Dogs 2 lands on the PC on November 29 whereas Steep arrives on December 3. Both games will support the following hardware that incluide Tobii’s eye-tracking tech:

Peripherals
Tobii EyeX
Tobii Eye Tracker 4C
SteelSeries Sentry

Notebooks
Alienware 17
Predator 21X
MSI GT72

Monitors
Predator Z271T
XB251HQT
XB271HUT

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