#facial tracking

Have you ever watched a VTuber raise an eyebrow mid-sarcasm or flash a goofy grin mid-game and wondered, how are they doing that? It’s not magic, though it looks like it. Behind the captivating face of every VTuber avatar lies a powerful yet often overlooked mechanism: the blend shape. These digital building blocks are the reason your favorite VTubers can express everything from smug satisfaction…

In VTubing, few things feel more real than when your avatar meets the viewer’s gaze, not by chance, but with intent. That tiny shift of eye movement can break the wall between virtual and human, and behind that illusion is one quiet powerhouse: eye tracking. Whether you’re just setting up your first VTuber stream or refining your existing VTuber setup, understanding how eye tracking works (and…

COMPUTER VISUAL  MINI PROJECT

Melbourne Connection Tram 

Creating a social and cultural sign on using technology to aid disabilities. Allowing for all people to gain connection with the CBD, through the use of the iconic tram system. Creating facial visual aids, to allow for a larger diversity of drivers. Providing dignity and supporting all Melbournians. 

Using the City Circle tram to create a story of Melbourne through sight and sounding aids. Having monitors within, allowing for a talking and video of the places passing. Allowing for all passages, to experience Melbourne from the city of a tram. Providing great technical and visual connections, to showcase Melbourne.   

Mobile VR Headset Veeso Aims to Bring Face Tracking 

Veeso, a recently launched Kickstarter project, is aiming to be the first to market with a mobile VR headset that tracks your face’s movement; a system that uses head-mounted infrared cameras to track both your eyes and mouth for a greater sense of presence in virtual reality.

The concept of using head-mounted cameras to track facial movement has been in development since the early ’90s, and although it later found practical application in the film and video game industries, giving animated characters a more human touch, it seems virtual reality is poised to bring technology to the consumer market in a big way.

After all, being able to smile and look someone in the eyes is one of the most human interactions that’s still sorely lacking in VR—something that will no doubt be an integral part of future headsets.

The Veeso team have built a functioning mobile VR headset prototype that promises to do just that by using two infrared cameras: an internal sensor capturing eyes and eyebrow movement, and second a sensor tracking the mouth/jaw. The completed headset promises to be wireless via a Bluetooth connection that sends data to the user’s iOS or Android smartphone and powered by an internal battery, as the current prototype relies an external source to power the system’s processor. And no, you won’t have to have little dots all over your face like Benedict Cumberbatch wore during the production of The Hobbit; the facial tracking system is considered ‘markerless’.