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Microsoft has big dreams for those lankly little people that really do nothing more than play the Vanna White to your Gamertag bio. USA Today is carrying a story detailing Microsoft's reasearch into using the Kinect to provide lifelike, almost photo-realistic, avatars. Microsoft chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie shows off the technology in the trailer below.
The Kinect can be used to "create an avatar whose facial animation is very, very realistic, and the quality is almost like a photograph of a person.
"There's no reason that we couldn't do that in real time by feeding the information that we get from a Kinect sensor, including its audio input and its 3D modelling spatial representation, and couple that to the body and the gesture recognition in order to create a full body avatar that has photorealistic features and full facial recognition.
"It'll come," he added, "but this is obviously still research work, so it'll be some time before it shows up in products."
You can kind of see where they are trying to go with this from watching the video. I'm not sure if Microsoft is expecting people to record Podcasts in these virtual rooms, or maybe have work meetings? It's an idea I suppose. It's also an idea to make a car that can run on clouds, all you need is a big tube up to the sky. It's neat if it works, but it's not really the most practical thing in the world.
Once again I'll pull out the Jurassic Park quote that Joystiq used so elequently to describe Kinect and its related technology uses.
Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. - Dr. Ian Malcolm
Comments
13 years, 2 months ago
I don't know, Joseph, I think you're not giving this kind of technology enough credit. Advancements with motion capture, facial recognition and re-construction, etc. like Microsoft is experimenting with could have a lot of applications (even outside of video games) down the road, which might not otherwise be discovered or even possible without this stuff now.
I think the Jurassic Park quote is taken out of context in this case, if only because it's not like they're experimenting with something dangerous or that could pose a threat to people. The only threat is high prices, which the consumer is still in complete control of the decision whether to pay or not pay. I know the Kinect doesn't appeal to me, which is why I'm not forking over $399 for a new XBox 360+Kinect bundle.
13 years, 2 months ago
I think they still need work on this technology. I'm still skeptical if they'll be able to make many improvments just because I've had bad experiences with the eye toy and I see this as basically the same thing. The lighting in homes like mine are not exactly the brightest and it makes devices like the kinect harder to use. With 3d modeling this may become an issue if the camera decides to take pictures of you and it looks like your in the dark all the time.
I'm glad they're trying to change the avatars though, it just seems to much like the mii avatars and a more realistic one could make those avatar based indie games even more fun :P
13 years, 2 months ago
At the moment, I have to agree with Joseph: if we have connections that are fast enough to support video chat, why are avatars necessary, asides from what essentially boils down to virtual cosplay and/or preservation of anonymity in particular situations? I can't even see the latter being plausible - if I'm uncomfortable enough in an online social situation that I would choose to conceal my identity with an avatar, I'm not sure that I would be interested in broadcasting all my facial expressions and body language to a complete stranger with whom I'm having an anonymous conversation. Of course, we can all imagine the more raunchy applications of this kind of technology, which would thrive on seamlessly combining anonymity with uninhibited mimicry of biological motion, but I don't see this being Microsoft's goal per se. Gaming applications: meh (my DDR works just fine without tracking technology, if participatory virtual reality is what they're going for); avatars seem like an unnecessarily expensive curiosity. Military training applications: mebbe. Work conferences: I'd rather that my colleagues not see every raised eyebrow and annoyed twitch. But I don't want to totally dismiss basic research - I'm sure IBM's Watson started out as a curiosity as well, but we all know how useful an English language-parsing search algorithm is now.
13 years, 2 months ago
I think once they work out all the kinks in the system, it would be interesting technology for developers to utilize. It would be cool, for example, to be able to scan yourself and have the Kinect use your image for Character creation in games such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and the new Elder Scrolls. I do agree with Harmon, though. When I had purchased the eye toy I had to buy a lamp with it in order for it to function correctly. The first thing they need to do is work on the lighting issues associated with devices like this.
13 years, 2 months ago
So I can see what hideous bastards are hiding behind the gamertags? Maybe I am weird but I like the part about online games where you dont know what the people look like. You just have a voice
13 years, 2 months ago
Why don't they just use video chat? I mean...what the fuck, why are they spending so much money on this technology that will make your avatars "photo-realistic" when they already have the technology to capture video? Now sure, they can use this technology in the games they make, but why? What games will require a realistic face for the avatar to play? (Unless they really think they're going to make money off of that "stretch Mario's face" game in Super Mario 64)
Fuckin' Microsoft, how do they work?
13 years, 2 months ago
While I admit that the concept looks cool, I can't help but shake that feeling that they could be using the time, money, and effort thats going in to this and use it to work on better things.
Y'know, like Xbox Live not sucking balls...
13 years, 2 months ago
Its cool to see how far people can use technology like this. I still am not gonna buy it, but its cool none the less.
13 years, 2 months ago
I have an Xbox LIVE Vision Camera, and I update my personal avatar every month with a new picture of my cat. I really don't see a reason to get the Kinect for this purpose, since I wouldn't waste my hard-earned money on anything related to family games or use it for any other reason.
Mehbeh if I can get that lifelike avatar with my Vision Camera.
13 years, 2 months ago
Haven't got a kinect yet and this doesn't move me in the slightest. I strongly agree with Arxidus, why not just video chat. Having something like this is a complete waste of time and money except for maybe expanding on some kind of motion cap. But... but I do like how you can record meetings and stuff.
13 years, 2 months ago
Why? This completely ruins the anonymity and immersion that comes with online play.
13 years, 1 month ago
Hell joseph this would be a good use for live broadcasting....like since you, brad, nolan, and carlos is going to PAX...maybe you could use this in combination with the usual live broadcast...like get nick and David to be on the avatar kinect thing. The thing is everyone would need a kinect, but it would be cool instead of a voice out of a speaker.