Feature: Inside the Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera

In today's cover feature, Gamasutra explores the Xbox 360 Live Vision's features, its upcoming software, and a number of middleware tools, including depth perception capability from GestureTek that could threaten the unique capabilities of Nintendo's Wii. The software demonstrated in this pictorial overview include Live Vision's photo and video conferencing features on Xbox Live, the pack-in launch title TotemBall, DigiMask's face mapping technology (which will be utilized in Activision's upcoming World Series of Poker and UbiSoft's Rainbow Six Vegas), and GestureTek's patented gesture technology, including a new solution for mapping an object spatially using only the camera's perception on-screen. The following extract describes GestureTek's facemapping technology, which is currently available for license to developers of gesture-based games using Live Vision: "GestureTek also displayed face-tracking technology, as seen above. The program very quickly recognizes a user's face, detecting facial structure and features, and is able to track it. As seen in the photograph, a yellow box surrounds this user's face. He is able to move around rapidly, and the box stays with him, moving fluidly in real time. When another user steps on screen, the box still maintains its link with the original user. When the original user leaves, the tracker - looking for the closest match to the original face - moves on to the newcomer. If the original user comes back, the box returns. It's very smart, but unfortunately is not included in the Live Vision development kit, and must be licensed directly from GestureTek." You may now read the full Gamasutra feature, which includes detailed images of all of the above-mentioned software (no registration required).