L.A. Noire's amazing MotionScan facial capture system demonstrated (video)
![](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/MoiQjs2wLx_ZxWnwnpWDmw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTQ5OQ--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/pL_9zeaDP85CoXk48QAYWg--~B/aD0zMTI7dz02MDA7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/12/la-noire-2010-12-17-600.jpg)
In gaming, 3D graphics get more powerful, environments get more expansive, enemies get more intelligent, but still facial animations haven't progressed much since Pac-Man chomped his first power pellet in 1980. Finally, a major breakthrough courtesy of Australian company Depth Analysis. It has developed technology called MotionScan, which enables a high-res 3D recreation of a person's face -- not just capturing bits and pieces of facial animation but their entire head, right down to the hairstyle. It's getting its first use in next year's L.A. Noire, a 1940s PS3 and Xbox 360 murder mystery game from Rockstar, and while we don't know enough about the title to be able to say whether it's worth plunking down a pre-order now, after watching the video embedded below it's clear that the bar has been raised.