5 ms·

When are they going to put this concept into video conferencing? The worst part about a video call us that the other person is looking at your eyes which are us

When are they going to put this concept into video conferencing? The worst part about a video call us that the other person is looking at your eyes which are usually below his camera so there is a huge conversational disconnect.

sandworm101 10y ago
When people again tolerate box-like, not-flat, computer monitors. The trick requires an off-axis camera and that requires a mirror tilted at 45*, creating a device slightly thicker than it is tall. There are some tricks (stepped mirrors etc) that might reduce that depth, but to do so without distortion would be difficult. I'm not sure that a camera hidden inside the screen would work. Getting that 'intimate' effect requires the subject to look directly at the camera lens as they would at another person's eyes. So any camera hidden inside a monitor would have to be aligned with the eyes/face of the image, a problem on larger screens. This is why the technique works best with small screens and probably isn't workable on larger screens or screens situated too close to the subject.
- ghostly_s 10y ago
  the ability to embed an array of micro-cameras of adequate quality between pixel rows of an LCD is surely only a few years away.
  - sandworm101 10y ago
    With cameras the size of a pixel, you may be up against some quantum limits re resolution and lenses. It would probably be easier to ape the effect by digitally altering the image on the fly.
    - happyslobro 10y ago
      What if each pixel was actually a steerable directional two way transceiver antenna in the visible spectrum? o.O Ok, so now were looking at something a few decades away. Hey, this could actually make zooming work really really well, depending on how well you could aim the antennas. This might work as a combination telescope / microscope...
      - coldtea 10y ago
        >Ok, so now were looking at something a few decades away Or maybe never? Some things just cannot be done. Physical limits and such.
        happyslobro 10y ago
        Well, we've already got the beginnings of visible light nano-antennas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_rectenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_rectenna). I'm not sure how directional they are, but we do have MEMS cantilevers to point them individually. Granted, getting this all working together as a combined camera/monitor is the kind of thing that could keep a generation of engineers and scientists occupied, with no guarantee of success.
      - outworlder 10y ago
        Something like a phased-array camera?
    - qmalzp 10y ago
      Catch-eye claims to be able to do this [1]. Never tried their software myself. [1] http://catch-eye.com/ http://catch-eye.com/
      - danieltillett 10y ago
        Thanks for this. Once again wasting time on HN pays off. Edit. They seem to be using this camera which is also very interesting [1, 2]. Unfortunately the camera is still to be released. 1. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/realsense-overview.html http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-tech... 2. http://click.intel.com/intelrrealsensetm-developer-kit-featuring-sr300.html http://click.intel.com/intelrrealsensetm-developer-kit-featu...
- JoshTriplett 10y ago
  > Getting that 'intimate' effect requires the subject to look directly at the camera lens as they would at another person's eyes. So any camera hidden inside a monitor would have to be aligned with the eyes/face of the image Do face detection on the video from the other end, and move/crop it to place the eyes right where the camera is.
  - danieltillett 10y ago
    This is a bloody clever idea. I am off to the patent office right now :P
    - sandworm101 10y ago
      But think about how the image would look if locked to the centre of the subject's face. Every little head tilt would translate into wobble of everything in the background. A simple slight nodding of the head would look very unnatural. Our eyes compensate for this, but on screen it might be very strange.
      - danieltillett 10y ago
        Intel has already solved all this and is about to release a camera that does it (see my sister comment for details). It is still a brilliant idea even if it is not original :)
      - JoshTriplett 10y ago
        You'd want to apply a steadicam-style effect to it, only adjusting if the face moves significantly away from that focus point, and even then doing so gradually.
superuser2 10y ago
There is (was) a company selling Teleprompter-inspired video conferencing terminals. Never seen one in the wild, though. I think few people are actually willing to pay for hardware just for video chat.

sandworm101 10y ago

When people again tolerate box-like, not-flat, computer monitors. The trick requires an off-axis camera and that requires a mirror tilted at 45*, creating a device slightly thicker than it is tall. There are some tricks (stepped mirrors etc) that might reduce that depth, but to do so without distortion would be difficult. I'm not sure that a camera hidden inside the screen would work. Getting that 'intimate' effect requires the subject to look directly at the camera lens as they would at another person's eyes. So any camera hidden inside a monitor would have to be aligned with the eyes/face of the image, a problem on larger screens. This is why the technique works best with small screens and probably isn't workable on larger screens or screens situated too close to the subject.

ghostly_s 10y ago
the ability to embed an array of micro-cameras of adequate quality between pixel rows of an LCD is surely only a few years away.
- sandworm101 10y ago
  With cameras the size of a pixel, you may be up against some quantum limits re resolution and lenses. It would probably be easier to ape the effect by digitally altering the image on the fly.
  - happyslobro 10y ago
    What if each pixel was actually a steerable directional two way transceiver antenna in the visible spectrum? o.O Ok, so now were looking at something a few decades away. Hey, this could actually make zooming work really really well, depending on how well you could aim the antennas. This might work as a combination telescope / microscope...
    - coldtea 10y ago
      >Ok, so now were looking at something a few decades away Or maybe never? Some things just cannot be done. Physical limits and such.
      - happyslobro 10y ago
        Well, we've already got the beginnings of visible light nano-antennas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_rectenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_rectenna). I'm not sure how directional they are, but we do have MEMS cantilevers to point them individually. Granted, getting this all working together as a combined camera/monitor is the kind of thing that could keep a generation of engineers and scientists occupied, with no guarantee of success.
    - outworlder 10y ago
      Something like a phased-array camera?
  - qmalzp 10y ago
    Catch-eye claims to be able to do this [1]. Never tried their software myself. [1] http://catch-eye.com/ http://catch-eye.com/
    - danieltillett 10y ago
      Thanks for this. Once again wasting time on HN pays off. Edit. They seem to be using this camera which is also very interesting [1, 2]. Unfortunately the camera is still to be released. 1. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/realsense-overview.html http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-tech... 2. http://click.intel.com/intelrrealsensetm-developer-kit-featuring-sr300.html http://click.intel.com/intelrrealsensetm-developer-kit-featu...
JoshTriplett 10y ago
> Getting that 'intimate' effect requires the subject to look directly at the camera lens as they would at another person's eyes. So any camera hidden inside a monitor would have to be aligned with the eyes/face of the image Do face detection on the video from the other end, and move/crop it to place the eyes right where the camera is.
- danieltillett 10y ago
  This is a bloody clever idea. I am off to the patent office right now :P
  - sandworm101 10y ago
    But think about how the image would look if locked to the centre of the subject's face. Every little head tilt would translate into wobble of everything in the background. A simple slight nodding of the head would look very unnatural. Our eyes compensate for this, but on screen it might be very strange.
    - danieltillett 10y ago
      Intel has already solved all this and is about to release a camera that does it (see my sister comment for details). It is still a brilliant idea even if it is not original :)
    - JoshTriplett 10y ago
      You'd want to apply a steadicam-style effect to it, only adjusting if the face moves significantly away from that focus point, and even then doing so gradually.

superuser2 10y ago

There is (was) a company selling Teleprompter-inspired video conferencing terminals. Never seen one in the wild, though. I think few people are actually willing to pay for hardware just for video chat.