In a move aimed at launching more accessible Android apps, Google has open-sourced code for Project Gameface, a hands-free game control feature released last year that allows users to move a computer with facial and head gestures. Developers will now have more Gameface resources with which to build Android applications for physically challenged users, “to make every Android device more accessible.” Project Gameface evolved as a collaboration with quadriplegic video game streamer Lance Carr, who has muscular dystrophy. The technology uses a smartphone’s front camera to track movement. Continue reading Google Adds Open-Source Gameface for Android Developers

The Meta Quest Pro is making its way to reviewers, who say that the pricey $1,500 mixed reality headset from Meta Platforms will be out of reach for most consumers but could be a natural upgrade to business users who want to upgrade from the Quest 2. Offering augmented reality in color and avatars with nuanced facial expressions, the Quest Pro is a productivity tool “ideal for builders, architects, engineers, designers, and others” who want to create or work in immersive environments. For everyone else, a consumer-priced Meta Quest 3 will be arriving in late 2023. Continue reading Reviews Are in for Meta Quest Pro, Quest 3 to Arrive in 2023

Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that Meta Platforms will in October debut the mixed reality headset the company has been developing under the codename Project Cambria. Appearing on Spotify’s “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast last week, Zuckerberg said the new headset will have outward facing cameras capable of porting the outside world into the VR experience. With improved facial tracking to transpose smiles and frowns and the ability to convey “actual eye contact” between avatars, Zuckerberg said the new device will enhance the experience of “social presence.” Continue reading Zuckerberg Says New Meta VR Headset Launching in October

Augmented reality startup Lightform has come out of the stealth mode it’s been in for three years, announcing a $2.6 million funding round from former Oculus head scientist Steven LaValle, Lux Capital, Seven Seas and NSF. What Lightform has been working on is a device that can scan the environment and create a high-resolution mesh, which it then combines with very precisely targeted digital projections of light. That makes it capable of creating augmented reality in any environment, without the need for a headset. Continue reading Startup Lightform Readies Release of Inexpensive AR Scanner

At SIGGRAPH 2015 in Los Angeles, Faceware Technologies, which creates markerless 3D facial motion capture solutions, demonstrated its Faceware Live plugin for Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4. With the plugin, developers for the UE4 will be able to capture facial movements with any video source and apply them immediately to digital characters. The Unreal Persona animation system displays the facial animation that takes place in real-time. The plugin was shown behind closed doors at SIGGRAPH. Continue reading SIGGRAPH: Faceware Unveils Live Capture for Gaming Engine

Project Spark enables game fans to create their own games. Gamers can create any type of game world they desire, from rugged mountains to scorching deserts to beautifully lush jungles. They can also design opponents, monsters and other characters to inhabit their world. While this may be similar to a “sim” game, it is essentially the Xbox One features, specifically motion tracking and facial recognition, that truly set Project Spark apart as a creative tool. Continue reading Project Spark Lets Users Build Their Own Games Using Kinect