Facebook’s new headset analyzes eye movements for advertising

The new VR headset from dead It has 5 cameras eye movements And the face features of users. These movements are transferred to their digital avatar in real time, making it look more realistic. In the privacy policy It states that the company uses this eye tracking data to “help Meta personalize your experience and improve Meta Quest.”

Although it is not explicitly stated that Meta uses the data for marketing purposes, the phrase “Personalize your experience” is typical of targeted advertising, As reported by Gizmodo. annoying Nick Clegg, Head of Global Affairs at Meta, eye-tracking data can be used to “understand whether or not people are interacting with an ad,” he wrote in Interview with the Financial Times (Behind a firewall) he said.

With Quest Pro, Meta not only learns what users care about — by tracking their eye and face movements, the company also gains insights into their emotions.

“More information than ever”

“We know that this kind of information can be used to determine what people are feeling, especially emotions like happiness and fear,” he explains. Ray Walshdigital privacy researcher professional privacy. “If you can literally see someone looking at a watch face, take a look for 10 seconds, smile, and think if they can afford it, it provides more information than ever,” he says.

In general, digital marketing is about showing the right advertisement to consumers at the right time. According to Walsh, advertisers can create campaigns with content tailored to frustrated people or cheerful ads for happy people.

Access to external service

Facial expression and eye movement data from Quest Pro users can also be sent to companies outside of Meta. The new SDK will give outside developers access to avatars and animated characters. Meta Privacy Policy For its headset, for example, it states that data that is shared with external services is subject to their own terms and privacy policies.

The Quest Pro’s eye-tracking feature can be deactivated, but users are unlikely to actually do without it in the long run if the headset takes over. Only original avatars appear when the feature is activated.

Quest Pro isn’t the only meta product that makes this type of tracking possible. In January, the company also filed a patent for a system that adjusts media content based on facial expressions.