Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the WiiRemote

[Kevy Baby]

Saw this and was impressed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

Apple is apparently working on something similar (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/12/17/apple-working-on-3d-hyper-reality-displays/) as I am sure are many others.

Pretty cool

[Stan4dSteph]

Cool!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Saw this and was impressed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

Apple is apparently working on something similar (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/12/17/apple-working-on-3d-hyper-reality-displays/) as I am sure are many others.

Pretty coolThe video is from Dec 2007 (with 7.6 million views). That guy, Johnny Lee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Lee_%28computer_scientist%29), figured this out by himself. After his video went viral he made the rounds at conferences etc and companies showed real interest in using this.

Too bad this crap takes for bloody ever. If this were used in Boom Blox (as was rumored) I would have totally bought that.

[Alex]

The only problem I can see is that Wii is often a social gaming type thing. In that environment I think it would be very hard on the other people. What they need to do in combination is put the screen in the glasses so everybody can wear their own pair and get their own head-tracking of the same thing.

That and the fact that you couldn't play and look around at the same time.

But still very cool.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

The only problem I can see is that Wii is often a social gaming type thing. In that environment I think it would be very hard on the other people. What they need to do in combination is put the screen in the glasses so everybody can wear their own pair and get their own head-tracking of the same thing.

That and the fact that you couldn't play and look around at the same time.

But still very cool.It seems to me that you could still watch someone else play and it wouldn't be that bad an experience. It looks like a normal screen, unlike the double-vision look of current 3D tech. Since this is for one-person gaming only anyway, it wouldn't be used for games that other people would want to watch, so I guess it's a moot point.

As for not looking around, since when does a player look at anything but the game? If the environment really were this immersive (I move to one side to see further down a hallway, etc) then I would be totally involved in the game and not be looking anywhere else anyway.

[Alex]

It isn't the difference in perspective that I think would be a problem but rather than constant twitching. Like watching someone's home movies where the camera is constanting twitching around and shaking and such.

He demonstrated pretty smooth motion, but I think in a real gaming situation it is much more likely to be jerky and constant.

As for looking around, I do it all the time. It certainly depends on the nature of the game, though. But that's why I mentioned it being particularly an issue for the Wii where 80% of the time I've played it has been in a party situation.

[Kevy Baby]

As for not looking around, since when does a player look at anything but the game? If the environment really were this immersive (I move to one side to see further down a hallway, etc) then I would be totally involved in the game and not be looking anywhere else anyway.In what little gaming I do (very little), I know I will sometimes move my head to the right or left while still looking at the screen (and I know I am not alone - it is a somewhat natural action). I am not sure how this would affect the view.

Also, as explained in the video, the technology shown was specific to the one player. He even acknowledged that it wouldn't look right to someone watching from the sides.

[Kevy Baby]

Apparently, HP is racist

HP looking into claim webcams can't see African-Americans

(CNN) -- Can Hewlett-Packard's motion-tracking webcams see African-Americans? It's a question posed on a now-viral YouTube video and the company says it's looking into it.

In the video, two co-workers take turns in front of the camera -- the webcam appears to follow the white employee as she sways in front of the screen and stays still as the African-American man moves about.Full story (http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/22/hp.webcams/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn)


The YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DT3tQqgRM)

[Alex]

Literally read this 5 minutes ago:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2009/12/racist-hp-webcam-video-blog-consumer-reports-response.html?EXTKEY=I91ECON&CMP=OTC-ConsumeristLinks