Whenever you’re video chatting with your family, some colleagues or even just a crazy Russian cam girl, the most annoying thing is the quality of the stream. Face-to-face, that person would look crystal clear to you, but online, they’re flat and pixellated. DoCoMo in Japan has figured out how to make you look more realistic in video chats by making you look fake.
DoCoMo has invented a headset that aims to improve the detail of videoconferencing services. It features two cameras that point at your eyes to replicate blinking, facial expressions and skin tone in the digital world, and features a camera at the front and back for picking up your hand gestures and where you are in a room.
When your image is rendered by the cameras and projected into the digital conference, you end up looking more like an incredible video game rendering of yourself, rather than a two-dimensional human.
The addition of realistic facial movements, though, helps re-enforce the concept that this is a real person you’re talking to, rather than a lifelike avatar.
It’s a shame they can’t figure this out without goggles, though. Still goes to show that the best way to see someone’s face in detail is at a pub. [Computerworld]