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Google buys crazy eye-tracking VR tech

Eyefluence wants AR and VR to be controlled via your eyes, and Google wants to help it fulfill this goal.

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Eyefluence/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

The virtual and augmented reality parties are just now kicking off, and Eyefluence is one of the many startups hoping to own the night. Eyefluence just got a step closer to that goal, announcing Monday that it's been acquired by Google.

Eyefluence wants to change the way we interact with VR and AR headsets. It uses eye scanning and tracking technology to let you use your eyes as a control method, rather than a control pad or similar. It's the type of technology that lets you buy things on Amazon with a flick of the iris.

It may be no coincidence that Google has bought into this tech either, as the company is rumoured to be working on a wireless VR headset that works by following your gaze.

"With our forces combined," an Eyefluence blog post said, "we will continue to advance eye-interaction technology to expand human potential and empathy on an even larger scale."

CNET's Scott Stein tried the technology out in February, as did Chris Matyszczyk. You can find their impressions here and here.

Update, October 26 at 12:01 p.m. AEST: Added information on Google's rumoured wireless VR headset.