To make virtual reality (VR) as immersive as possible companies are trying numerous ways of tracking human functions, so that they can be replicated in a virtual world. From motion tracked controllers and gloves to eye tracking and omni directional treadmills to simulate walking/running, there’s a significant amount of time and money being invested in developing the best solution. But one area that doesn’t seem to be included is the face, replicating players facial emotions that could be seen by other gamers or videogame characters. One company working on a solution is Veeso with its face-tracking VR headset of the same name.
The Veeso head-mounted display (HMD) is a mobile device designed for use with iOS and Android smartphones. The current prototype features two built-in cameras pointed at the eyes/eyebrows and mouth/jaw and sensors that capture a users expressions to transfer them into a VR experience in real-time. The final version will have an infrared camera to track the position of the pupils, how open the eyelids are and eyebrow movement to know where the user is looking.
There’s great potential in this type of technology not only for videogames where interactions between gamers and NPC’s can have different outcomes, but also also for the growing social side of VR. Hanging out with friends in a virtual environment, or holding a business meeting can become even more natural as people would be able to read each others expressions.
The Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign Veeso has launched seeks $80,000 USD to bring the project to life. Current funding sits at $21,894 with 13 days to go. There are several funding tiers with the cheapest including a HMD being a $70 early bird. If funding is successful Veeso has an expected launch date of December 2016.
VRFocus will continue to follow the progress of Veeso’s Kickstarter, reporting back with any new updates.
