System and method for foveated simulation

A device comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• calculate a first alignment value based on a gaze vector of a user and a component vector for a virtual component of a virtual reality simulator, the component vector based on a position of the user and a position of the virtual component;
• adjust a first simulation setting of the virtual component based on the first alignment value;
• and
• in response to determining that available resources of the processor satisfy a simulation criterion, adjust the first simulation setting of the virtual component to a base value.

A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions, that when executed, cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

• calculating an alignment value based on a gaze vector of a user and a component vector for a virtual component of a virtual reality simulator, the component vector based on a position of the user and a position of the virtual component;
• adjusting a simulation setting of the virtual component based on the alignment value;
• defining a first virtual area of the virtual reality simulator based on the gaze vector;
• defining a second virtual area of the virtual reality simulator based on the gaze vector, and wherein the second virtual area is larger than the first virtual area;
• and
• applying first simulation settings to first virtual components located within the first virtual area, second simulation settings to second virtual components located outside of the first virtual area and located within the second virtual area, and third simulation settings to third virtual components located outside of the first virtual area and the second virtual area.