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SOEmote facial recognition tech live in EverQuest II today
Earlier this summer, we told you about Sony Online Entertainment's new SOEmote facial recognition technology. Today you can try it out for yourself in the company's flagship EverQuest II MMORPG. SOE has partnered with ImageMetrics to bring the new tech to end-users and their in-game avatars. It's not limited to facial expressions, though. New voice fonts allow players to sound like their characters, too. "For gamers, and especially roleplayers, the more immersive the experience, the better the game. SOE is using Live Driver in SOEmote to unlock levels of expression and interaction between EQII players that simply haven't been possible until now," said Robert Gehorsam, CEO of Image Metrics. SOE is also sponsoring a competition for the most creative SOEmote videos. Submit your 30-second clip for a chance to win a trip for two to SOE Live (formerly known as Fan Faire) in Las Vegas. [Source: SOE press release]
E3 2012: Hands-on with SOEmote
There's aging gracefully, and then there's EverQuest II. Sony Online Entertainment's eight-year old fantasy flagship is pretty much the benchmark for MMO feature sets and functionality at this point. There's so much to do in the game that it's overwhelming at times, and that was before the introduction of the roleplayer's dream known as SOEmote. SOEmote is one of those things that you'll either love or hate. In a nutshell, it's facial scanning technology that takes webcam input and outputs it to your avatar. EQII's toons already boasted some of the most visually expressive animations in the genre, complete with a laundry list of /emote commands that's longer than this article. SOEmote takes that to the next level (and it also adds voice-modulating capabilities, though these weren't exactly listenable due to the din of noise that is the E3 demo floor). The tech is scheduled to hit the game's live servers toward the end of this month, and it'll be met with both huzzahs (from the roleplayers and the immersion enthusiasts) and WTFs (from the raiders and progression fiends).
Interview: 4mm raps with us about Def Jam Rapstar
When Rockstar founders Jamie King and Gary Foreman announced plans to start up a new company earlier this month, even the clairvoyant among us were taken aback by the pair's plans to take on an already bloated music game genre with an entry of their own. However, that appears to be exactly what the newly founded 4mm Games is up to, and together with Def Jam Interactive and with considerable backing from investment firm CEA Autumn Games, Def Jam Rapstar was born. While 4mm is keeping much of the game's details safely away from the mic until E3, Joystiq recently caught up with company CEO Nicholas Perrett backstage to talk about Def Jam Rapstar, as well as what else the company has planned and the reason behind calling the studio "4mm."
New modeling technology breathes life into animation
Ask any animation modeler about the "uncanny valley," and you're sure to get at least a grimace, if not a groan. Said term describes the long-standing barrier which refers to the perception that "animation looks less realistic as it approaches human likeness." Image Metrics is hoping that a newfangled approach used to create Emily (pictured) will finally allow animations to look more like humans and less like "corpses." As you could probably surmise, the secret is the tech's ability to survey and replicate the most subtle of movements, though even Raja Koduri, chief technology officer in graphics at AMD, doesn't see the line between reality and fiction being blurred before 2020. We'll see what Emily's posse has to say about that.[Thanks, Przemek]
