HTC Vive has included MLB’s Home Run Derby VR game as a lead development partner of the tech company’s new eye-tracking technology. HTC’s Vive Pro Eye, which will debut in the second quarter of 2019, will allow Derby players to better navigate within the game environment. The news was announced at CES on Monday.
“This advances the whole immersion opportunity we have,” said Jamie Leece, MLB’s SVP of games and VR. “You can start to take away some of the traditional controls we’ve been using from old-style video games.”
Leece emphasized that allowing the user to “navigate and play in a very natural way” enables the headset wearer to remain more fully immersed within the virtual environment. The core function of the Home Run Derby game will remain—the hand-eye coordination of swinging a controller—but users will have the ability to select options with their gaze alone within HTC Vive Pro Eye.
“We’re looking at really cool ways to use the eye tracking as a mechanic in addition to the bat swing,” he said. “That’s the pureness of the experience: see the ball, swing the bat, hit the ball. That’s pure, and we want to keep that.”
In the future, Leece added, there could be additional features such as the ability to call your shot with a glance or prompt the next pitch by looking at the pitcher.
Home Run Derby VR was released commercially last year, but an enterprise version has been available for longer. Leece said more than 20 ballparks will offer the game in 2019, up from a dozen last season. The consumer game will remain available on PlayStation VR in its current state.
“In all candidness, HTC Vive is the best hardware for virtual reality,” Leece said. “It’s the top of the line. Last year, they came out with the Vive Pro—it was a big leap just visually and fidelity-wise. This year they’re adding eye tracking, and it’s their next step.”
He also noted the positive response at competitions, such as at the All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., and at the Little League World Series. The ASG stream was the No. 1 viewed video on Twitch that day, with a peak concurrent audience of 120,500 and a total audience of 2.5 million. The LLWS edition aired via tape delay on ESPN and had a total of 362,500 viewers, the third-highest esports broadcast of the year, according to Nielsen.
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