FaceAPI
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Microsoft improves facial recognition across skin tones, gender
Facial recognition is everywhere. The technology is used in China to make kids pay attention and in California to order burgers. You can of course use your face to unlock your iPhone, but the tech also has the potential to screen passengers at US airports and recognize criminals. These last two uses are problematic, as the tech isn't ready to handle darker skin tones and genders. Microsoft hopes to help fix this problem with improved facial recognition technology the company claims has reduced error rates for men and women with darker skin by 20 percent.
Demonstrated: Controlling facial expressions in-game with camera
There are two things we can say about Torben Sko. First: He's probably never had a problem getting 'torbensko' usernames. We'd like to applaud his forward-thinking parents who clearly saw the benefit of a unique name in the distant, internet-enabled future. Second: Sko's technology demos (remember this head-tracking demo?) have helped us conceptualize what a Natal-enabled future will be like, more so than jury-rigged versions of Burnout Paradise or Katamari Damacy. In his latest video (found after the break), Sko demonstrates how to control the facial expressions of a virtual character using nothing but a plain ol' web cam (oh, and the same FaceAPI software he used for his first demo). Much like Hideo Kojima's visions of a Natal-enabled future, Sko's never involve replacing the controller (or keyboard and mouse) but rather supplementing it with, in this case, your face. No word on support for particularly ugly faces, but we suspect Microsoft's got its best and most beautiful people on it.
