video and E3 preview
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/06/01/soemo ... q2-avatar/
SOE is adding new facial recognition tech to EverQuest 2 that lets the game track your movement and facial expressions and replicate them on your avatar in real-time. Voice chat is also built into the feature so that your character will animate naturally while you talk.
We have a full demo video of the tech below, and the inside scoop on how it works and why the devs think MMO players will love it from EQ2′s Director of Development David Georgeson and the CEO of the company that developed the technology, Robert Gehorsam.
http://eq2wire.com/2012/08/02/august-up ... l-weapons/
SOEmote Your Way
SOEmote is finally ready to go live on August 7! After showing the feature at E3 in Los Angeles earlier this year and getting a lot of interest and feedback, we opted to spend more time developing it to make it fit easily into the game experience so it felt fun, natural, and easy. You will find the SOEmote listed in the main EQII menu in game, as well as in the game Options. Some features we added are:
-Auto-Enable SOEmote with Webcam. To start with, we wanted the feature to be easy to use. If you have a camera set up, SOEmote will automatically send you a message to enable the feature and options when you log in. After that, when you log in with a webcam, you will be reminded that the feature is active.
-SOEmote Group Window: Included by default if you set up SOEmote, you can easily watch group members’ faces next to their names in the user interface.
-Mini-Chat Bar Additions: We integrated SOEmote buttons into the mini-voice chat bar under the chat window for easy use and access.
-Mirror Me: As we’ve been using SOEmote in the studio a lot, we wanted a quick and intuitive way to be able to see ourselves (because it’s fun) and also to ensure SOEmote is calibrated without having to use the large set-up window view. With this addition, you see a small version of yourself with a quick Calibration button to set the default facial tracking position for those times when you leave your PC and return. TIP: When calibrating, make sure your own face is in a neutral position with no smile, eyes open and no expression. You get the best results this way!
- Voice Chat/SOEmote Options: We took some time to work on the usability of the existing voice chat controls as we integrated the SOEmote options. It seemed natural for us to pair voice chat and SOEmote options together.
- Local Proximity Chat in Guild Halls and Houses. With SOEmote or Voice Chat activated you’ll have the option to join a Local Channel so you can listen and talk based on your location just like walking and chatting into a room in real life.
- Voice Fonts. We added a selection of voice fonts for male and female voices for you to experiment with in the main SOEmote set-up options. You will find the voice font selections in a drop-down list. We also added an option to record and play back your voice so you can hear how it sounds with a font.
- FAQ. We wanted to add a fairly deep FAQ for SOEmote to help users with common questions. We can tell you now that if you are experiencing issues with tracking your facial movements, try increasing your lighting! And if that fails, you might want a better camera. We list the camera we use in the FAQ and link to an offer for good cameras.
We are really excited to have the community jump in and use SOEmote. As we’ve always said, with EQII as a role-playing game, we want to support players who want to become their characters! With our partners with SOEmote, Image Metrics and Vivox, we really hope you enjoy it and build incredible experiences from it. More than anything, we want to see all the creative ways that you, our imaginative players, use it. Look for a contest soon asking you to submit your own SOEmote videos through our in-game YouTube feature!