Oculus & USC Developing RL Expression-to-VR Avatar Tech - Solution for Ridiculous "VR Gawk" Still Pending

Notwithstanding the big head-mounted display slapped to your face, the bright kids at Oculus VR and USC researchers are coming up with a way to translate your real life expressions to your VR avatar - and Philip's a fan:

The system tracks the motion of a person’s mouth using a 3-D camera attached to the headset with a short boom. Movements of the upper part of the face are measured using strain gauges added to the foam padding that fits the headset to the face. After the two data sources are combined, an accurate 3-D representation of the user’s facial movements can be used to animate a virtual character, whether that’s an ersatz person or something other than human...

“This is really cool,” says Philip Rosedale, who previously founded Second Life and is now CEO of a virtual worlds startup called High Fidelity. The company is working on enabling realistic virtual social interaction by using webcams and other sensor technology to track facial expressions and arm and hand gestures (see “The Quest to Put More Reality in Virtual Reality”).

More here, including video. The real problem I see here is what NWN reader Issa Heckworth notably termed "The Gawk": That gape-mouthed, dumbass expression you make when wearing a VR headset. ("Everyone I see with these headsets on looks terrible," as she put it.) So if this technology is introduced to the Oculus, expect millions and millions of avatars wandering the metaverse, gawking.

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Comments

[jay]

I may look like a deformed elephant in RL, but my avie looks hot so...

[Cube Republic]

Wow no matter what face you pull in VR you're still going to look an enormous plonker in real life.

[Issa Heckroth]

Because nothing makes you look cooler than a dork with a headset like a giant floppy digital c$%k attached to your forehead and flopping round in your face.

[Rin]

As interesting as the technology behind this is ... my first thought after seeing this was:
A shame H.R. Giger is dead. He would love this facehugger I think.

Followed by:
This can't be comfortable to wear.