Next Generation Webcam Looks You In The Eye

from the two-eyes-are-better-than-one dept

Just in case you might have been put off by webcams that showed people staring off at a strange angles, you can now be totally weirded out by a webcam system that compensates so that the foreground person is always looking you in the eye. A setup of two webcams transforms the video images to a 3D image map that re-creates an accurate angle-manipulated video. Microsoft's research lab has been developing the technology for a while under the name i2i, so it could be released for video chat sessions in the not too distant future. And if you're worried about what your background looks like (eg. your messy room/office), a suitably-chosen image can replace your actual surroundings. Perhaps the Jetsons should be cited as prior art for some of the features.
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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Jun 2004 @ 2:51am

    i2i not company but name of the technology

    In techdirt: "Microsoft's research lab and i2i have been developing the technology..."
    In article: "i2i, in development at Microsoft Research labs, Cambridge UK, is a two-camera system which follows a person's movement."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dorpus, 30 Jun 2004 @ 9:32am

    What about non-Western cultures?

    In many non-Western cultures, eye contact is considered a sign of defiance or agression. Will they need to make versions that will look at people's chins instead?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dorpus, 30 Jun 2004 @ 9:34am

    Also in the USA

    New army or marine recruits are told not to look at the drill sergeant in the eye, so we do see some of this in our own culture as well.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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