Next Generation Webcam Looks You In The Eye
Just in case you might have been put off by webcams that showed people staring off at a strange angles, you can now be totally weirded out by a webcam system that compensates so that the foreground person is always looking you in the eye. A setup of two webcams transforms the video images to a 3D image map that re-creates an accurate angle-manipulated video. Microsoft’s research lab has been developing the technology for a while under the name i2i, so it could be released for video chat sessions in the not too distant future. And if you’re worried about what your background looks like (eg. your messy room/office), a suitably-chosen image can replace your actual surroundings. Perhaps the Jetsons should be cited as prior art for some of the features.
