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HTC Introduces Eye-Tracking 'VR Ad Service' (pcgamer.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the prolonged-eye-contact dept.

We all knew this day would come: HTC has introduced a "VR Ad Service" that knows when viewers are actively looking at ads. "Ads that appear in immersive VR environments can not only provide more effective impressions, they can also track whether the users have viewed them or have turned away their gaze. Accordingly, the multiplied effect of effective impressions and verified viewings will bring you higher advertising revenue!" HTC explains. PC Gamer reports: Advertisers will only pay for ads after they've been viewed, according to Business Insider. Some of the formats they will use include loading scenes, 2D and 3D in-app placements, app recommendation banners, and big screen video. This will be an opt-in ad service for developers. HTC notes that by opting in, "all of your free apps would be automatically put on the list which can be used to integrate VR Ads." News of in-game ads coming to VR isn't exactly the sort of thing that will excite gamers. If there's a silver lining here, it's that ads are more likely to be relevant to the viewer's interests over time, at least in theory. "Compared to ordinary ad impressions, ads that are seen by users in a immersive VR environment can not only meet the user's needs by means of precise re-targeting, but can also be detected if they are viewed effectively by users," HTC states. "Therefore, promotion of your applications would have much more effective impression, which not only arouses the attention of potential users and enhance brand image, but further attracts interested users directly to download your apps in the VR environment!"

38 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. Is this is still the obnoxious 1st april prank ? by aepervius · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "If there's a silver lining here" no there isn't any. Advertiser knowing more about us is not a silver lining it is an invasion of our privacy. But then again I am actively trying to block all ads and actively trying to make my browser less track-able, so my opinion on that probably does not count. But boy, if this is not a 1st april news prank, this is not a good new and this came to be faaaaar quicker than I estimated. I thought they would have waited that VR has a stronger hold before making it toxic.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
  2. Remember when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Remember when this sort of thing would be considered an april fool's joke? Now it's just too realistic.

  3. Anyone seen Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Merits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    S01E02.

    One of the things they had were these weird cubes people lived in where all the walls and ceiling were basically LCD panels. Occasionally they'd get blasted by advertisements, and when the protagonist closed his eyes or averted his gaze, all the screens would lock down with this red warning that said "RESUME VIEWING" while a high pitched alternating tone filled the room.

    Here's one of the scenes in question:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5eGo1vE41w

    I was wondering how long it'd take before some company implemented something exactly like that. Looks like we're already there...

  4. I HATE advertisements! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    I really think advertisements are a curse upon humanity. Surely HTC and app developers can survive without VR ads -- and, yet, HTC wants to tap in to the same revenue stream which made Google huge. I know companies with shareholders are driven to seek profit almost anywhere within legal limits, but I wish we lived in a world where consideration of the experiences of fellow humans had a higher priority than profit.

    1. Re: I HATE advertisements! by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Let's here it

      Where?

      for the increased ignorance that lack of advertising could bring!

      We could still find out about new products without advertising as we know it today. They would be reported upon.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re: I HATE advertisements! by LesFerg · · Score: 1

      The suggestion that advertising could be included in "free" apps is hard to debate, tho I prefer to pay for the games I use and not be bothered with suggestions of other things I could pay for, while playing the game.
      I guess it would be different if the advertisers wanted to provide us with the VR gear for free tho... bring on your free games with ads if you give me the hardware to use it on my PS4 : )

      --
      If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.
    3. Re: I HATE advertisements! by LesFerg · · Score: 1

      I still consciously avoid products that have been promoted in annoying advertisements, if there is an alternative brand available.

      There are only a very small number of advertisements which I have seen (the first 2 times anyway) and noted to be a clever, amusing and/or non-annoying ad. Can't recall if that has encouraged me to buy that particular brand instead of another tho.

      --
      If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.
    4. Re:I HATE advertisements! by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

      You don't need someone to watch you. What you are interested in, you will click on, because actions speak louder than eyes.

    5. Re:I HATE advertisements! by rtb61 · · Score: 2

      Never ever forget targeted ads are actually a scam. The advertising was targeted but it was not targeted at end users, it was targeted at advertisers. Reality of targeted advertising;

      1. Search for new car
      2. Buy new car based upon specs and price
      3. Data miner recognises you 'WERE' looking for a new car.
      4. Where the fuck are all the stupid car ads coming from, I just bought a car why the fuck would I buy another one.
      5. Convince advertisers this works.
      6. Profit (until the advertisers go broke targeting ads at people after they have bought products).

      Targeted ads, should have only ever been targeted at content ie common fucking sense, it is what people are interested in at the fucking time, for fuck sake. Targeting ads at what people were interested in, is fucking stupid but a great scam from which Google et al make a ton of money, targeting their advertising at advertisers and just pretending to target end users.

      The of course https://adnauseam.io/, bwa hah hah, good luck targeting that particular add on.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  5. Re:Anyone seen Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Meri by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Well, does anyone have an advice on how to stop spammer from reaching me? Not because I hate it, not because their products are bad, but because I am broke. I owe about one million dollars, I dont have a job, I dont have a girlfrien, I dont need a bigger dick, I am not fat or bald, and I dont want neither do I need to look at their ads, Please, is there some way io can inform these spammers that I am broke? They are wasting their time, please bother someone else who has money.

  6. Its my eyeballs ... by Alain+Williams · · Score: 1

    don't I get a say in this ?

    1. Re:Its my eyeballs ... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      don't I get a say in this ?

      Yes, you do. You get to say whether you wear a VR headset or not. Just like now you can decide to watch TV or not.

      For instance, I watch Netflix. Haven't seen an ad in years....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  7. Re:Anyone seen Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Meri by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

    Yeah, that was exactly what I thought of. Of course right now they are mostly thinking about ads on loading screens and about product placement: they put a can of Slurm in your VR scene, and get paid if your eyes linger long enough on that can. But I can also imagine how tempting it must be to resume the advertising arms race, and require viewing of the ad. Or, since the revenue stream requires you to at least glance at the ad, make it as obnoxious as possible: think bouncing buttons and flashing colors.

    Because that's all this is: an arms race. Companies aren't magically going to increase their advertising budgets; they might spend more on one particular platform if it proves to be more effective, but it most likely means they are spending less elsewhere. And can we please kill this lie about "targeted, engaging" ads? No one wants ads when they interrupt or interfere with the viewing experience. Not even when it's a single, relevant ad, let alone the customary scattershot of crap this will inevitably devolve into.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  8. This isn't going to go over well. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While cheapy smartphone games may be so plentiful and cheap that they can be used for cannon fodder, VR games are still relatively few in number and costly. Nobody is going to pay for $60 game to get blasted by ads. If the games were free, people would put up with it but VR games are costly to develop and ads easily spoil any type of emotional environment they work at constructing. I don't foresee this getting any traction.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:This isn't going to go over well. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I think there's actually more room for ads in VR, because you can use product placement in the same way that they use it in movies and TV. For example, the character is consuming a fizzy canned beverage. On TV, different labels can be mapped onto the beverage for different markets. In VR, different labels can be mapped onto the beverage for different customers. When done tastefully, you'll hardly even notice. Of course, with ubiquitous tracking bugs, ads will be able to follow you from websites into games, which I think is where it starts to become uncanny. That will be immediately noticeable.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:This isn't going to go over well. by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      Nobody is going to pay for $60 game to get blasted by ads.

      That's what you think

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  9. April Fools! by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Not eye-tracking ads, that's totally plausible. The idea that you're not going to have to pay for ad impressions unless someone looks at your ad is the joke. They might give you some eye-tracking information if someone looks at your ad, though, and maybe you'll pay more.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  10. Re:Is this is still the obnoxious 1st april prank by sheramil · · Score: 1

    "If there's a silver lining here" no there isn't any. Advertiser knowing more about us is not a silver lining it is an invasion of our privacy.

    It's an invasion of privacy if your attention is being tracked by their software.

    And if you're wearing one of their VR helmets.

    And if anybody bothers to create any content for their VR system.

    And if people actually buy it.

    And if they aren't using a cracked version that has the ad-tracking software disabled, or fudged to make their software think you have an unnatural obsession with one particular advertisement.

    That's a lot of ifs.

    For the rest of us in the mundane quotidian real world, it's not so much a privacy issue as something to laugh at.

  11. The "engaging ad" lie by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    Dear advertising customers. Yes, you out there who fall for the lie that ad companies tell you. That you can actually "engage" or otherwise get anyone interested in your ad by making it topical, or making it about something the person is actually interested in. The sad truth is that your ad can be as topical and engaging as could be about something I want and still it would be considered a nuisance. Allow me to inform you why.

    Take YouTube. You know, that online TV-Replacement. Where I, as a user, can decide that "hey, I want to see a video". Now, let's imagine I want to see a video of my favorite music band. I type in the name of the band and the name of the song, expecting to watch the video to said song.

    Now you could come with the most on-topic ad one could imagine: Imagine you're a music promoter and you'd want to promote a gig of that band in my home town. It does not get any more on-topic, engaging and interesting to the customer than this. And STILL I would not even see what you are promoting but rather annoyed click on the 5 second ticker that ticks down to "skip". Because at that very moment, my expectation and my "want" was to see that video. Not your ad, not anything else, I want that video. Anything that stands between me and that video is a nuisance, distraction and generally something I do NOT want.

    You see the problem? When people are actively trying to get something specific, anything that blocks their access to it is seen as an interruption and nuisance that they want to get rid of. No matter what it is.

    What does work a lot better is when people watch some videos of one of their YouTube favorites and you can get them to endorse your product, especially if they have the skill to weave that in an interesting way into their presentation. Because more often than not they watch the channel for the person and his or her presenting style, not exclusively for the content presented, so the person they like presenting your product in an engaging way can actually work. Provided your product is in any way sensibly connected with the show at hand.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re: The "engaging ad" lie by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Fun fact: "Everyone thinks they are immune to the effects of advertising, but studies show everyone is mistaken."

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    2. Re: The "engaging ad" lie by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Fun fact: "Everyone thinks they are immune to the effects of advertising, but studies show everyone is mistaken."

      I don't think I'm immune to the effects, I think I have fostered in myself other effects which are stronger. For example, the "I'm not going to buy your shit because I hate your commercial" effect.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:The "engaging ad" lie by sir-gold · · Score: 1

      What does work a lot better is when people watch some videos of one of their YouTube favorites and you can get them to endorse your product, especially if they have the skill to weave that in an interesting way into their presentation. Because more often than not they watch the channel for the person and his or her presenting style, not exclusively for the content presented, so the person they like presenting your product in an engaging way can actually work. Provided your product is in any way sensibly connected with the show at hand.

      As a side note, in the early days of TV, ALL commercials were like this, simply because it wasn't technically feasible to 'cut' to a pre-recorded commercial. Commercials were all done live within the show itself, sometimes with a product endorsement, sometimes by panning the camera over to an off-stage table with a product display, and sometimes by just holding a sign in front of the camera with a live voice-over.

    4. Re: The "engaging ad" lie by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Ok, name 3 products you have seen YouTube ads for.

      Hell, I'd fail at naming one. All I see is 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, skip.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:The "engaging ad" lie by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      This can actually have way more impact than a prerecorded ad if (and only if) a few criteria are met.

      First and foremost, the viewer not only has to trust the person doing the promotion, but he also has to believe the person. The ad subject has to match the person doing it. Imagine I'm doing a show about how to keep your computer and home network safe and free of spyware and other nuisance, you'd probably not really consider me too believable if I run ads for, say, dishwasher detergent. Of course I might use some, but who died and made me an expert on washing dishes? You'd probably be more inclined to believe me if I endorsed some security product. But even that depends on how much you trust me and how much you trust me to value you, as a viewer, more than ad money. And before you say "duh, why'd you want me more than money?", consider that all the average YouTuber has is his reputation and on that pretty much hinges all his subscribers, who, in turn, are the ones that mean ad revenue and (and that part is becoming more and more important as we speak) who may support him financially, either via services like Patreon or by buying merchandise.

      The YouTube ad model is failing, by the way. But that's a different story.

      So you first of all have to believe the presenter not only to be honest with you but the product also has to match the show so you believe that he knows what he's talking about. And to make matters even worse, the product has to be something that you COULD be interested in. If you're watching a show about computer security, you might actually be interested in knowing what antivirus software you should buy. If you're watching a show about music production, chances are that you are producing music and an ad about how to sell your music profitably may be interesting to you. So the ad has to be on topic. It has to match the show.

      And finally, and that's the most important part: The ad absolutely MUST be entertaining. Or else people will still skip it, at least after seeing it once. That also means that you can't just rattle down the same text in every video you're doing. Take a good ad. An entertaining one. Let's say the Nissan ad with the pigeons. That's a funny one.

      Once.

      Maybe twice.

      Now please go and watch that ad 5 times. Still funny? Still entertaining? Or does it get annoying? Keep watching it. How many times can you watch it before you're just fed up enough that you do not want to see it ever again?

      So what the channel host has to do, and this is his incredibly big advantage over normal ads, is to give it a little twist every time he spins it. Keep it entertaining! Add a line or two about it, connect it with current events, you can do a lot here but you MUST NOT be boring. People hate boring stuff when they're watching something to get entertained. And they will mercilessly skip anything that they consider boring or "seen before".

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  12. Shitty ads with shitty VR by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    Shitty ads with shitty VR. I can't wait. Really, I'm not waiting. Also, Samsung Gear VR sucks noobs. What a waste of money.

    1. Re:Shitty ads with shitty VR by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      For a second, I read that as "Samsung Gear VR sucks boobs" and I was willing to give it a chance.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  13. Re:Anyone seen Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Meri by MrL0G1C · · Score: 1

    but because I am broke. I owe about one million dollars, I dont have a job, I dont have a girlfrien, I dont need a bigger dick, I am not fat or bald, and I dont want neither do I need to look at their ads,

    Sounds like you need a beer, BUY CHEAP BEER ONLINE...

    --
    Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
  14. Re:JUDEN advertising? Here's Juden belief by bigwheel · · Score: 1

    See above for why I advocate for the elimination of AC posts, and the addition of an ignore option.

  15. Re:JUDEN advertising? Here's Juden belief by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    See above for why I advocate for the elimination of AC posts, and the addition of an ignore option.

    I support your suggestion. I appreciate the idea behind anonymous posting, but I think the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.

    Also some keyword and phrase filters might not hurt. I don't see many places where the words "JUDEN SLIME!!!" would be a valid part of the legitimate discussions here (yes, there may be a few corner cases, but they'd be far and few between).

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  16. Why do companies insist that things like this... by tlambert · · Score: 2

    Why do companies insist that things like this... are somehow a service?

    serv.ice: noun:

        1. the action of helping someone.
        2. a system supplying a public need such as transport, communications, or utilities such as electricity and water.

  17. Re:Why do companies insist that things like this.. by Stan92057 · · Score: 2

    Their helping the Advertisers lol. All the while trying to convince the end user they are being served ..somehow..con artist do what they do best believe their own lies lol

    --
    Jack of all trades,master of none
  18. How can a user NOT see the ads? by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

    How can a user NOT see the ads? No shit the gamer will see the ad they cant help but see the ad its in the game..it will be placed in a place you cant NOT see it.I see ads all the time cant get away from them they are everywhere. the real question is is the adverting generating product sales to ad dollar spent. would love to hear from an insider who would tell the truth..unless theirs a sale or coupon i cant believe adverting works that good.

    --
    Jack of all trades,master of none
  19. Putting the cart before the horse by sir-gold · · Score: 1

    Before HTC starts talking about using eye-tracking in VR to measure ad-views, they need to actually add eye-tracking to the Vive first (there is a 3rd party working on this, but not HTC itself)

  20. Oh Joy! by braindrainbahrain · · Score: 1

    I can't wait to be caught in a giant tsunami of fizzy pepsi!

  21. Re:Anyone seen Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Meri by Rick+Zeman · · Score: 1

    Yep. I actually seached cuz I figured someone would have posted it before me.

    And don't close your eyes!

  22. I don't even use my HTC Vive anymore... by MindPrison · · Score: 1

    ...so good luck with that.

    One of the reasons I opted for the HTC Vive back then, was the promise of Oculus users being tracked by facebook at any time, whatever you watched and did.

    Sounds like you wish VR an early death. We don't even have proper AAA titles for it yet, just tons of weird "Look ma! I can create an Unity VR game in less than a day!" games.

    --
    What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
  23. Billboards in game worlds by SirAdelaide · · Score: 1

    If I'm playing a car racing game, I won't think it out of place to see billboards on the side of the road. If they advertise Coke/Pepsi, and the developer makes some money, that's fine.

    So long as the ads are no more intrusive than the real world, and actually add to the game world, I'd be ok with this.

    --
    I'm a fruit pirate. I bought a watermelon once, and spat the seeds in the back yard. They grew into another watermelon,
  24. Re:Anyone seen Black Mirror's Fifteen Million Meri by pvphong90 · · Score: 1

    op lung iphone 6 , Hello every body . Nice to meet all .