Microsoft demos 3D photo avatars, display tech
In a series of demo videos from Microsoft's Research group, the company shows off its efforts in 3D face-mapping and display technology that's user-aware.
Microsoft has taken the wraps off some of the natural user interface (NUI) projects currently in development within its research group.
As a follow-up to a NUI-centric and Kinect SDK TechForum event yesterday, the company today posted videos of 3D talking heads, as well as new initiatives in smart displays--both of which make use of camera technologies to create new types of interaction experiences.
The first is an evolution of Microsoft's face-mapping technology, that is soon to be introduced as part of the Xbox 360's Avatar Kinect feature. Instead of mapping facial movements to a virtual character though, the technology grabs a 2D, high-quality video of a person from a Webcam (or Kinect) and maps it onto a 3D facial mesh model. The end result is a 3D face that can track speech or head movements it picks up on camera and display it back on the 3D avatar.
In the demo, Microsoft Research principal researcher Zhengyou Zhang demonstrates that you can take that model and have it play back any text as well:
In a separate video about the projects, Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer for Microsoft, described them as part of one of the biggest shifts in the evolution of computing.
"Computing is becoming more invisible. It isn't in things you call 'computers' anymore, you call them something else," Mundie said. "If we want to bring the benefits of computing to literally billions of more people, and in many many other parts of their lives, we've got to make it a lot easier for them. We've got to, in essence, get rid of the learning curve."